


What happens in Cornwall ...

by cuphugaddict



Category: The Hobbit RPF
Genre: (sorry), Actor Richard, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cancer, Cornwall, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Holidays, Hospital Aid Aidan, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Lee is an ass, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Photographer Dean, Polyamory, Richard needs a hug, Sick Character, Sickfic, cottage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-06-25 18:41:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 57,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuphugaddict/pseuds/cuphugaddict
Summary: Aidan Turner is a hospital aid in London who tries to balance his crazy hours at work, meet up with his friends - who deserve his time, given that they ensured his survival in London - regularly and maintain his long-distance relationship with his partner Dean, who lives and works in New Zealand. Thankfully, Dean's next visit is just around the corner so it won't be long until the two of them will go and spend their summer in a cottage in Cornwall.Then one day at the hospital, Aidan accidentally meets Richard who is trying to fight cancer. Once his partner leaves Richard right in the middle of chemo therapy, Aidan tries his best to help - and everything gets even more complicated.Welcome to Aidan Turner's life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I did it ... The idea of writing a fanfic with a polyamorous relationship has been stuck in my head for quite some time now and I guess I just gave it a go (and truly hope that it worked ...). 
> 
> Considering the tags I have to say that (thankfully) I am not all too familiar with cancer treatment - at least not first-hand. So please excuse any mistakes I might have put into my story (and you're welcome to point them out).
> 
> I have just read eyesonly's fanfic (the great Call me by your Name AU) and I have to say that I'll just "Frankenstein" along and try to revive this fandom a bit. I truly hope that it works :)
> 
> Please tell me what you think, you guys. Comments are what keeps me going.  
> I hope you enjoy!

 

 

Aidan pushed the little cart with the mop and the already much too dirty water in front of him and sighed. Still three hours until he could leave the hospital for the day. Pushing a strand of unruly black locks behind his ear and realizing that there was a small sheen of sweat forming on his forehead, he cursed the early arrival of summer. Not to get him wrong there: He loved the time of the year when the rain in London was warm, he had the chance to go on at least a few days of holiday (the only time he cursed the fact that he had no children which he could bring forth in holiday negotiations) and, most importantly, this was the time of year where he would get to see his boyfriend who just happened to live on the other side of the planet. Actually, Dean would arrive in little more than three weeks, as soon as his photography classes in Auckland had stopped and to say Aidan was looking forward to it was the understatement of the year. It had been over five months since they had seen each other in person and it just was about fucking time, if anyone asked Aidan …

“Turner, please report to the reception desk. Turner, to the reception desk.”

Oh and didn’t he just love to be summoned like the hospital-slave that he undoubtedly was? Still, he pushed the dirty water and the mop into the next according closet, wiped his hands on his light blue pants and skipped to the reception, where his mood increased immediately as he saw who was on duty. “Leonora dear, what can I do you for?” He leaned on the counter and grinned at his former roommate.

“You do know that Dean hired me as your sex-babysitter Turner, don’t you?” she laughed at him and handed him a file. “As if you would ever screw with that Kiwi-bloke of yours …” She rolled her eyes fondly.

“Oh I can assure you darling, I do screw with that Kiwi-bloke of mine …” He grinned at Leonora’s frown.

“Gross Turner! Anyway, I am just here to remind you of that Kiwi-bloke of yours before I tell you to escort that handsome guy over there to radiology.” The girl tipped her head to the right towards what Aidan realized was his own version of the infamous tall, dark, handsome stranger. Except maybe that he was sitting in a wheelchair, which definitely hadn’t been part of his lonely night, teenage fantasies. Still, even in the wheelchair and in one of the all too familiarly horrendous hospital gowns, that man was gorgeous. Surely tall, taller than him, dark and shortly cropped hair that just had the slightest hint of grey in them, a well-trimmed beard and eyes of the colour of the sea. And even the gown wasn’t able to hide the muscular physique of said man – even though it tried to do its best.

Aidan took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and went over to the guy. “Hi, I’m Aidan and I am here to take you to radiology. … ‘You ready or do you still have to take care of something?” In Aidan’s glorious days at the hospital, this question had been answered in a variety of ways: Reaching from a simple “No” to a few trips to the toilet but also calls to partners and/or family to water the plants or to feed whatever animal they possessed or even the library to inquire if they could extend some of their books. He even had a marriage proposal once – but the guy was slightly overreacting and was assuming he would die from a simple blood test. However, he had heard just about anything. In this case, however, he only got a polite shake of head and a shy smile. “No, thank you … Oh, I’m Richard.” What a voice! Still, Aidan ordered himself to get it together, for fuck’s sake, and took the offered hand before he started to push the wheelchair towards the elevators. “Any personal things still lying around somewhere?” Aidan wanted to know but again, he only got a shake of head from the man. “No, they’re taken care of, thank you.” The easy sort, splendid! “Great. Well then, let’s go …” Aidan said joyfully and just as they arrived at the elevators, a few people got out of one and he happily took the same over. “We’re really lucky, you see. Sometimes it takes ages until one of those arrives. Beds getting in and out, then people think it’s funny if they press every single button and so on. … It’s hell sometimes.” Aidan aimed at small talk.

However, the handsome man, Richard, sighed, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind having a few more minutes …”

Oh dear, something sinister and dreadful then. “Maybe we could make a detour via the toilets?” Aidan suggested jokingly. Thankfully it worked and the man in the wheelchair let out a small and deep chuckle. A shiver ran down Aidan’s spine at the sound.

“As appealing as that sounds, I best get over with it as soon as possible.”

“Very wise”, Aidan grinned, “What is it?” Oh dear, he was being too curious again! “Of course you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to …” he quickly added, mentally and not-so mentally biting his tongue.

Another shake of head. _Richard_ tended to do that a lot apparently. “It’s fine. Cancer.” That beautiful voice of his failed and he cleared his throat, “I had cancer. Well, I hope that I _had_ cancer and don’t still have cancer, for that matter. The scans will show.”

Aidan nodded, “Ah, so you already had chemo then?” He saved both of them the statement that it surely had worked as both of them knew it was a lie because no one could know that for sure.

Another shake of head, “I only had radio therapy until now.” Aidan simply answered with an “Ah!” Richard turned around on his wheelchair so he was facing Aidan, at least halfway: “I still hope it worked though …”

Aidan smiled in what he hoped to be an assuring way just as the doors of the elevator binged open, “Let’s find out, shall we?” And with that he pushed Richard into radiology and in the hands of a surely capable nurse while he, after a quick check with said nurse, waited for Richard until he came back out again – hopefully without cancer.

 

Some twenty minutes later, a different nurse pushed Richard out again and Aidan stood up, taking over. “And?” he asked with a smile even though he was pretty sure what the answer was. He knew this refusal to let one’s shoulders sag all too well. “Not my lucky day …” Richard replied, his voice clouded with sadness.

“Shit!” Aidan said because seriously, what else could one say in such a situation? That all was going to be okay? It was a lie that nobody wanted to hear mere minutes after the illusion of being cured had been smashed to pieces and trampled into the ground. Still, he got a death glare from the nurse which he only countered with a smug wink. Richard, however, chuckled, “Yes, shit indeed.”

“So, chemo next?” Aidan asked once he pushed Richard towards the elevators again.

“Looks that way …”

Despite the chuckle, he seemed to be in a brooding mood. And couldn’t Aidan relate to that? But even if patients didn’t get the news they wanted to hear, they, meaning the hospital employees, were still there to make their situation as easy as possible. “Well then, shall we go and make appointments right now? Or would you rather do it over the phone and ditch the hospital right away?”

“No I …” Again, the tall man cleared his throat, “I’d like to make them right away. It’s easier that way …”

Aidan grinned, “Your wish is my command, Richard!”

After a wheelchair-speeding trip to oncology where Richard really did well, considering Aidan had seen people break down in panic attacks here, he asked where his belongings were (as he surely did not arrive in that monster of a gown). “Oh, they should be with Lee … In the waiting area.”

“Where I picked you up?” Aidan asked to minimize misunderstandings. Richard only nodded, sheet with his next appointments clutched firmly in his hand. Aidan knew better as to make a silly joke in a situation like this. So he dutifully pushed Richard back into the waiting area where he had picked the guy up on his own and as soon as they entered the kindergarten, as the hospital personnel jokingly called the waiting areas, a huge and well-dressed guy stood up and hurried towards them. Lee, apparently.

“Oh Richard, the call from my agent took longer than I expected. How are you darling?” Immediately, the man with an American accent kneeled down next to the wheelchair, his hand on Richard’s. “Seems like there will be a few more visits to the hospital in the future.” Richard said and laughed half-heartedly.

“Oh my dear! I am so sorry to hear that …” Aidan detected a squeeze of hand, “But we’ll get through this, my darling. You are the strongest person I know …” As Lee started to place kisses onto Richard’s hand, Aidan took this as a cue to leave them alone, after assuring they were alright. “Yes, we will be. Thank you, Aidan, for everything.” Richard smiled up warmly at him while Lee did not seem to register his presence at all. But considering the fact that his (presumed) lover was still ill with cancer, Aidan did not hold that against him. He smiled at the couple and went back to his mop. He still had half a floor to clean before he could call it a day and go home to skype with his own man of heart.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

“… and just as I was finished grading the final projects – and you know how much I hate this because how on earth should you compare photographs with completely different topics – the review for my article came in and they told me it was shit and that I should revise it. I mean, sure, I expected that, but who guarantees me that once I actually have revised it, which will take hours … what am I talking about? _DAYS_ , Aidan! … they’ll accept it? That’s right, no one. So I’m still considering if I’ll even do it or if I just sack the thing altogether …”

Aidan, who sat in front of his laptop with Chinese take-out only grinned at his screen, where he saw his dear boyfriend ruffling his dirty-blonde hair. Apparently, washing the same had been out of question for the last few days. “Sack it, that’s my opinion. You don’t have enough time for your own stuff as it is …” The Irishman shrugged.

“But _Aidan_ , it’s an important handbook! I kind of need this publication …” Dean whined and Aidan smirked.

“You know, if anyone saw you whining like that with your greasy hair, they wouldn’t believe that you are actually a university employee.”

“A _temporary_ one, my dear. And you love me, even with greasy hair …” Dean winked at him and Aidan chuckled, “I’m afraid you’re right about that one …” Both men grinned at each other.  That dry and mocking humor had been part of their relationship since day one, where both had met at one of Dean’s exhibits that Aidan had gotten dragged to by Adam (these events were normally so out of his league!). They had met at the bar and Aidan had started flirting over multiple glasses of champagne and basically, the Irishman had dared Dean to date “such a low-life hospital slave” without knowing if that blonde photographer with those adorable dimples even was into men. Dean had only grinned and countered, “If you dare to date a photographer and wannabe academic that quite literally lives on the other end of the world, I just might try.” And that had been it, their glorious first meeting. Thankfully, their teasing hadn’t changed one bit in the five years they already knew each other.

“I miss you Aid …” Dean said, the stupid article instantly forgotten.

Aidan smiled, “I miss you too, pumpkin!” the blonde pulled a face at the nickname. “But”, Aidan spoke up and raised one of his chopsticks for emphasis, “we have passed the 30-days-to-go-mark already and if that doesn’t count for something I don’t know what does. This means that in less than thirty days, you are going to arrive here in London, I will pick you up at the airport and you can run around the city like a madman, taking pictures of just about everything until I have finished work and then, we’ll go to that small cottage I miraculously got for us. We’ll clean it up and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get two or three days of real holiday. Isn’t that amazing?!” Aidan exclaimed mock-enthusiastically and Dean laughed out loudly. “You are going to clean that cottage, I am going to continue taking pictures, my dear! All those cliffs …”

“Dean!” Aidan whined.

“… and the waves! Oh my god, the wild and unruly sea, Aidan!”

“ _Dean!_ ”

“And the flora, I can’t even imagine …”

“Dean, you’re a prick”, Aidan pouted and Dean laughed out loudly. “Hm, maybe I come across a sexy guy who clears out cottages shirtless, what do you think?” The blonde winked.

Aidan only raised an eyebrow at that, “Just for the flora-remark alone I’m going to wear a hideous woolen sweater that is at least three sizes too big, O’Gorman!”

“But then you’re going to get sweaty. Not half-bad either … Turner!”

Both men looked at each other, eyes locked in a death-glare before they burst out laughing simultaneously. When Dean had caught his breath again, he asked, “Tell me again how you got the cottage …? Sorry, when you told me I had been working for thirty hours straight and I can’t really remember …”

Aidan bit his lip and swallowed down his comment about the unhealthiness of thirty-hour work days (?) and smiled. “Well, technically it’s not really mine. There is this old lady, Maggie, who has been coming to dialysis for over three years already and she specifically requests me to take her to and from her treatments.”

Dean wriggled his eyebrows, “I knew I had an eye-candy boyfriend … Do I have to get jealous now?”

Aidan scoffed, “I suppose that comes along with having an _eye-candy boyfriend_. And Maggie is 93, just so you know … Anyway, so she can be very … convincing in her requests, which leads to the hospital always calling me up when she is there for her treatment. They don’t usually do that. She just likes me because I don’t treat her like some piece of royal porcelain. I think she is a duchess or something of the like ….? I don’t know, however: One day I apparently told her that I have this annoying boyfriend who lives on the other end of the world …” Dean snorted, “… who comes over to England this summer and we were still looking for some destination to holiday cheaply, which is mostly my fault. So she said: ‘Oh, but I do own this cottage, my dear!’” Dean laughed at his poor impression of a posh English accent, “… and I was like, ‘Oh, what cottage?” and then she told about that cottage in Cornwall she still owns and hasn’t used for years because she doesn’t really travel anymore. But she also doesn’t want to give it to one of her kids because they’re all thieves … that what she says. And so she offered me that I can ‘have it’ – I think she meant over the summer – to spend time with my annoying boyfriend there but we’d have to clean it out. ‘Oh I am certain that its state is horrendous, Aidan. No one has looked after it in years and even when I last visited, it was poorly maintained!’”

Dean was caught in a fit of giggles again, “I still think she likes you.”

Aidan only nodded, “That might well be, as I do take my job very seriously, Mr. O’Gorman. And just so you know: I could do way worse than Maggie because she’s a badass, I’m telling you.”

Dean smiled, “I can very well imagine that. … You like her too, don’t you?”

Aidan sighed, “Yeah, she’s pretty cool. I mean, it’s stupid to be fond of people at the age of 93 who come to dialysis thrice a week, but … They tell you at the beginning of your work at the hospital that one must never do that but you know how I am with following the rules …”

“Oh dear, yes I know. Do you remember that one time we almost got arrested for public indecency?” Dean ran his hand over his eyes and Aidan chuckled, “Which was unfair because we didn’t even do anything … not really.”

“It was at a shopping mall Aidan … just before Christmas.” Dean emphasized pointedly.

“So? You know you loved it …” Aidan smirked, well aware of how stupid that make-out-session in the changing rooms had been.

“I love you.” Dean grinned and Aidan did the same, “And I love you, my little Kiwi. See you soon.”

“Yeah, see you soon …” Dean said and after a few haphazardly blown kisses towards their respective webcams, they ended the call. Not soon enough though, Aidan thought.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI: In a few days I am going to depart on a holiday of my own - so don't be surprised if the updates are a little slower. Don't worry though, that chapters are written, so there will be more :)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read this, and especially to those who left Kudos and even comments on the first chapter <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks guys for your kind words and the holiday wishes; you are the best :)
> 
> Here comes the next one:

 

The weeks leading up to Dean’s arrival did pass reasonably quickly – mostly due to the fact that Aidan was overly busy at work and even squeezed in a few extra hours which would come in handy considering their planned holiday in Cornwall. Sometimes, Aidan felt like he was robbing Dean of some opportunities, for example to spend a prestigious holiday, solely due to his more than poor salary. Even though the photographer always assured him that he was stupid and this wasn’t the case at all as he himself didn’t have money to burn, Aidan could never quite shake the feeling. So at the prospect of their two-week-holiday in Cornwall Aidan jumped at every extra hour that was available. He chatted happily with Maggie about the upcoming stay – not without having to promise that she would get to meet the ominous photographer from New Zealand as she considered this the only acceptable payment for the cottage. Aidan agreed immediately, wondering how on earth he would bring a visitor into dialysis. But it was Maggie, so he supposed that it would work out somehow. More than once he imagined her, lying there in her bed majestically (yes, she totally rocked that look) and hollering: “Bring me the blonde photographer!” at which the whole medical personnel would part at once and let Dean step forward. Usually, this mental image was followed by a silent chuckle from Aidan.

Additionally, he saw Richard every week when he had his chemo. The first time, he only passed oncology when one of the nurses brought him into the station and probably explained the whole process so Richard obviously didn’t see him and it was pointless greeting him. The second week, Aidan passed the regeneration room where the handsome man sat in a chair, Lee right by his side and both were talking quietly but intently. Richard, however, chose to look up at the exact moment that Aidan passed the glass window and so he simply raised his hand in a haphazard greeting. Richard seemed to recognize him as his lips parted in a small smile – and then, Aidan had passed the window and Richard was gone. Aidan had shaken his head at his more than stupid thought. Of course, he could not go back and intrude him and his model-type boyfriend just because he wanted to know how that handsome cancer patient was doing. The same picture offered itself to Aidan the week after that, but then, the chemo was clearly visible as Richard had lost some of his hair already and his skin seemed like paper. Aidan, who had to get another patient from the regeneration room, passed the couple and couldn’t help himself but enquire about Richard’s state. Lee, who wanted to know immediately who Aidan was (and really, the Irishman thought that his blues made that quite obvious) was soothed by Richard with an, “He’s the employee who helped me making my appointments Lee.” So as predicted, the American had not taken notice of him on their first meeting. Now, he only nodded and gave Aidan a half-hearted smile, which did not discourage Aidan in the slightest. As Adam, his dear friend who had assured his survival in London once he had arrived from Ireland always emphasized: “You are a persistent little shit … but adorably so.” So this was why he still inquired about Richard’s state of being despite the _warm-hearted_ welcome from Lee. The very same who chose to answer that question in Richard’s stead: “I think it is quite obvious how he is …” Richard rolled his eyes, which Lee thankfully didn’t see. “Lee! Don’t be like that …” Richard rasped, voice hoarse and on the verge of breaking, “He’s just being nice.” Lee however wasn’t pacified this time, “Do you really think he cares? There are literally thousands of other patients in here …”

“ _He_ is still here Lee, for God’s sake …” Richard shot back, anger rising in his voice and Aidan almost wanted to retreat with as little noise as possible, but then Richard looked up at him with those blue eyes of his that were so expressive even though clouded by the obvious effects of the treatment and the dark-haired man was frozen in place: “Considering the circumstances I’d say I’m quite fine. The treatment seems to work … well, we’ll only see in time if it’s working on the cancer cells as well but … If it works on them as it does on my skin cells, it should be quite effective.” Richard aimed at a chuckle but failed miserably. Aidan managed a half-smile, “I could get you the name of some lotion a friend of mine uses. He has this really dry and sensitive skin and has struggled with it for quite some time, but since he has found that lotion, it’s much better, or at least he claims it is. He’s tried just about anything before …” The Irishman trailed off as he saw Lee glaring at him. Honestly, he didn’t quite know what he was glaring at him for, because he had just offered his help, but hey, individual logic was a bugger. Richard smiled up at him, “That would actually be very nice of you Aidan. I … We’ve tried a lot already but nothing seemed to work so far.”  Aidan nodded, “I’ll leave it with the guys up in oncology so during your next visit they can give it to you.” He thought that was safer than offering to show up next week in here again as Lee looked about to murder him at the very suggestion. So after giving them a wave and a wish of luck, he hurried over to the patient he should be taking down into one of the kindergartens.

At home, he tried to do his best to minimize the chaos that he knew Dean was used to by now, but still, he didn’t want his flat to look like he hadn’t made an effort. So first, it was time to get rid of all the dirty laundry strewn across the place and get the same washed. Then, he started with cleaning the kitchen (something in his fridge looked like it had developed intelligent life without his knowledge), moved on to the living-, the bed- and then the guest room. Said guest room had been presented to him like a guest room by his landlord but it really was little more than a bigger closet – however, a closet with a lot of windows, which was why Aidan had planned a little surprise for Dean. Dean, who besides being known for his photography, loved to paint. And so Aidan set out to equip a small studio (the smallest really) inside his flat that when Dean was staying with him, he still could paint. Having no clue about painting in the first place, he googled according shops in his immanent surroundings (he was aware of the fact that he had to carry all that stuff to his place afterwards) and promptly found one three streets from his flat, called _Green and Silver_. Entering said establishment, he was immediately greeted by a man that, by the life of Aidan, could only be described as an artsy guy: Longish brown and curly hair, tried back messily in a bun (not unlike himself, Aidan guessed), ripped jeans with an orange scarf around his hips and a worn T-Shirt with holes in and sprinkles of colour on it, countless necklaces and wristbands, an earring and a general aura that practically screamed ARTIST! Oh yes, and he was barefoot too. “Hello stranger, I’m Orlando. How can I help you?” he introduced himself with a hug – a hug! – and really, _Orlando_? Aidan asked himself if that was his real name. Nevertheless, he was here with a purpose and so he explained his current situation and dilemma, well _two_ really: First he didn’t know anything about painting and second he didn’t have too much money. Two and a half hours later, he had gotten a most thorough explanation of the artistry of painting, the according supplies, a shitload of the same, three coffees and a piece of pie and a new friend who closed his shop down in order to help him carry the stuff back to his flat – where they had another coffee. Aidan blamed it all on the caffeine-rush but he had then asked _Orlando_ if that was his real name and, surprise, it was. He even had a look at the guys driving license. After that was out of the way, the newly-gained friend even helped to set up “the studio”, as the painter immediately called it, after assuring Aidan that the space was more than sufficient. “Me, I am not a friend of too spacious ateliers myself, Aidan. In my years of painting, I have realized that the creative energy is more … at your fingertips, more … condensed in smaller spaces. They contribute to the artistic soul greatly. Your boyfriend should be lucky”, he had said and Aidan simply believed that he surely knew what he was talking about. _Condensed_!

Aidan did save the bathroom for last as he knew it would look like a minefield again if he started too quickly. So by the time Dean was due to arrive, his apartment looked almost presentable. Aidan nodded once more towards his empty corridor, pulled the door close and set out for the airport to greet his man in a way that would put all rom-coms to shame.

In reality, he simply stood in arrivals grinning like a lunatic from ear to ear as he saw the blonde mop of hair approaching him. Once Dean had spotted him, though, he mirrored his stupid smile and Aidan supposed, they were the perfect match. Both men met in a tight hug which was followed by a long and desperate kiss. Oh and how Aidan had missed that mixture of leather, lemon, salt and sunshine that was purely Dean. “Mr. Turner, how kind of you to pick me up.” Dean grinned and Aidan winked, “Any time, Mr. O’Gorman.” The Irishman put his arms around the shoulders of his lover after taking his huge travel bag and whispered in his ear, “How was your flight?” While they made their way towards the exit and to the trains, Aidan got one hell of a story of a wailing four-year-old who even managed to out-scream “This is Sparta!” over Dean’s headphones.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there my dear readers!  
> Here's another chapter as I'm going to be busy for the next few days - I hope you'll like it.  
> And a HUGE thank you to all of you who left kudos and especially to you who took the time to comment; you really make my day <3

 

The content sigh as Dean sank back into the freshly made bed echoed through Aidan’s entire flat. “You know, if you keep making such noises, people will think that we actually have sex …” Aidan grinned mockingly at the Kiwi who lay on his bed, still in his jeans and already halfway passed out. “I’m sorry Aidan …” Dean mumbled and opened only one eye at which the Irishman laughed out loudly, “Oh the perks of travelling! Don’t worry, Deano …” Aidan said, getting rid of his own pants, T-shirt and socks before he hopped onto the bed beside his lover in order to get rid of his jeans at least. As much as he loved to get the blonde undressed the act without the slightest input from Dean was a little tiring. Once the jeans got caught under the Kiwi’s behind, Aidan chuckled while Dean only raised a sleepy eyebrow, “Not taking advantage of me, are you?” Aidan only snorted, “Like this? Way too much effort, O’Gorman.” Once the offending item was thrown off the bed and a light blanket placed on top of them both, Aidan let his arm sneak around Dean’s waist and pulled his boyfriend close, who only mumbled a few apologies again. “I do not mind one bit, love” Aidan whispered before he placed a kiss onto the photographer’s temple. Dean only groaned happily and buried his head in Aidan’s mop of curls. In a matter of seconds, the Kiwi was snoring lightly which made Aidan grin and pulled the other man closer. And it hadn’t been a lie: As long as the two of them were together, Aidan did not really care what they were doing.

One thing that had always amazed Aidan was how easily they and their lives had clicked into place. Coming from a few chaotic and not really sustaining relationships it had always seemed to the Irishman that they were just meant to be together – as cheesy as that sounded. Almost seven years of age difference? No problem. More than different career choices and therefore a huge gap in their salaries? Bring on something more challenging. Living almost literally at opposite ends of the planet? Piece of cake. Or like now, where Dean gently nudged Aidan, caressing his side and whispering “Aidan?” into his ear. After his initial response which was along the lines of “Unnnghhh!” and the realization that he hadn’t slept that well for months, he creaked an eye open and looked right into his lover’s smiling face. “Hey!” Aidan smiled sleepily and Dean grinned down at him, “Good Morning handsome. Seems like you slept just as long as I did.” Aidan snorted as a look to the window indeed confirmed that it was morning already and he had slept for eleven hours straight. “Just because I couldn’t stand being apart from you any longer …” he chuckled with a dramatic bat of his eyelashes. Dean snickered and buried his face in Aidan’s locks again, the Irishman placing his arms around the muscular frame of the other man. “Is that so?” Dean whispered into the crook of Aidan’s neck at which the dark-haired man only nodded. Aidan felt the hand of the Kiwi caress his torso at which Aidan sighed. How he had missed this! Being close to his boyfriend, simply lying around and cuddle … _Oh! Maybe not only cuddle_ _…_ Aidan thought with a grin. “Seems like you are much more awake than you have been yesterday”, Aidan teased and pushed his hip up so that it met the hardness he felt there. Dean let out a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a groan, “Well, I have been awake for almost an hour with nothing to do but watch you. That’s all I can bring up in my defense …” the blonde whispered, continuing his treatment of Aidan’s chest as he knew the younger man liked it. Aidan sighed, “It’s a good defense, if you ask me …” he replied and both grinned at each other before they kissed languidly. “You have time for this?” Dean asked against Aidan’s lips at which the dark-haired man only hummed. “I’ll always have time for this …” he murmured at which he found his lips again attacked by his partner. A most familiar tongue started teasing his lower lip which Aidan relished in for a few moments before he parted his lips gladly. Both sighed in unison as their tongues met and Aidan’s hands found its way into Dean’s hair simultaneously. Once Aidan tugged at the blonde strands lightly at which the older man shifted on top of Aidan, only breaking the kiss as he was on top of him. “I’ve miss this so much, babe …” he breathed against the Irishman’s lips. “Me too, Dean …” he sighed, feeling himself harden at the gentle treatment of the other man. The blonde stroke a few strands of locks from Aidan’s forehead lovingly and smiled down at him. Once Aidan realized that he was grinning stupidly up at Dean as well, he sighed dramatically, “Now look at us goofy idiots! Get on with getting me ready or otherwise everyone will think we’re getting old.” Dean raised an eyebrow, “And we can’t have that, now can we?”

“Nope”, Aidan confirmed with a slight shake of head and after another peck on the lips, Dean kissed down his way the Irishman’s chest, running his tongue over each nipple quickly, at which Aidan smiled and let a hand run through the blonde’s hair. Even though Aidan’s nipples weren’t as sensitive as Dean’s (Aidan swore he once almost got him to come with only tending to the older man’s nipples which Dean always denied vehemently blushing bright red) he appreciated the sentiment and if Dean liked to do it, who was he to complain? Still, as the blonde maneuvered himself further down, Aidan’s heartbeat quickened as well. His eyes went up to the ceiling in order to cool his senses at least a little bit. It had been far too long and the sight of Dean going down on him … No, his gaze was better focused on the ceiling, definitely. He felt his boxers being dragged down slowly and in consequence his hard member springing free. A light hiss from Aidan followed and he felt Dean’s lips against his hips shift into a grin. But as the blonde did not stop there but placed the younger man’s legs over his shoulders carefully and kept going down, Aidan’s alarm bells shrilled. “Dean! Ungh … Darling stop, I haven’t showered since yesterday morning …” His gaze cast down again, he saw the blonde grinning up from between his legs, “Do I look like I care?” And that statement alone made Aidan’s eyes roll to the back of his head, which he pressed back into the soft pillows. Not long after that, his breath came only in short gasps as Dean knew exactly where he liked a press of tongue or the occasional suck. _Yes, longtime relationships do indeed pay off …_ he thought jokingly. Aidan hissed a few times as Dean’s beard provided a sharp contrast to the soft tongue of the photographer. Once the Kiwi moved down even further, Aidan rolled his hips slightly to give his lover more room and moaned lustily once he felt Dean’s lips teasing his hole softly. “Oh God, this is so good …” Aidan groaned and Dean chuckled lightly, the puffs of air sending shivers down Aidan’s spine. Once Dean started to kiss and lick over and into his pucker, Aidan had to try really hard not to hurt his lover with the uncontrolled jerking of his legs. This really was safer when he was on his knees as he realized. Once it got harder and harder to contain himself, licks, kisses and moans against his hole driving him mad at an excruciatingly slow pace, he had to stop his lover once more: “Dean love … ah … holy fu- … Dean stop! Please I … Hngh! … Close Dean …” he decided on that last phrase as forming coherent sentences seemed out of the question by then. The blonde licked one last time into Aidan’s hole before he withdrew, “Are you Sure? No more fingers?” Aidan shook his head vehemently, “No more fingers! Cock. Now!” Dean chuckled at Aidan’s shortage of words, “The bare necessities then. Lube?” The Irishman rolled to his side lightly and opened his nightstand, throwing the item in question in Dean’s general direction. Once Dean had coated his own cock in a huge amount as well as spread some onto Aidan’s pucker accompanied by Aidan’s pants, he positioned himself between his partner’s legs: “Ready baby?” he asked and the Irishman, already a loss of words, only nodded between shallow breaths. As Dean aligned his erection and carefully pushed inside, both men moaned simultaneously. “Oh Aid …” the blonde groaned while Aidan only gave a loud “Ooohhh”. After a few moments Dean granted Aidan to adjust to him, the Kiwi started a slow and gentle rhythm which made the man under him sigh lustfully. Both knew that this would not be their most passionate sex but neither of them cared. Right now, they relished in the languid but still well aimed thrusts right at Aidan’s prostate that made the dark-haired man moan silently. Taking their time, hands roamed over the respective other’s body, caressing what they had missed for a much too long time, a few caring kisses in between. Once Aidan felt his climax approaching he only tightened his hand in Dean’s hair who immediately understood, “Come baby, don’t hold back …” he whispered hotly into the other man’s ear before he ran his tongue along Aidan’s neck. It was then that the Irishman was done for. With a few violent shakes and a long moan, he spilled his seed between their bodies, Dean following after two more thrusts into the clenching tunnel.

After a few moments both men lay panting on top of each other in their glorious afterglow, Aidan ran his hands over his partners back lovingly, “Dean dear, I have to get up …” The blonde only growled but slowly pulled out of the Irishman and sunk to his side. “I am going to get a shower”, Aidan smiled, his hand on Dean’s cheek so that he felt the tired nod of the photographer. Aidan pecked the other man on the nose whispering, “Stay as long as you like”, before he got out from under the haphazardly thrown around covers. On the way to his bathroom, he threw another look at the beautiful man lying there in his bed as if he did so every day, “And don’t mess up the bedsheets, I’ve only changed them yesterday!” Dean’s “I am not the one who would have messed them up now, am I?” followed him into the bathroom and made him smile. Everything still was as it had always been.

Once Aidan had cleaned up reasonably for his job – which he would enter with a stupid smile on his face and a spring in his step, mind him, and he would be disgustingly joyful today – he still found Dean in between his dark blue sheets, dozing. “Unbelievable”, Aidan muttered playfully in his ear, followed by a small kiss, at which Dean mumbled something into his pillow. “What?” Aidan chuckled. “I am on holiday, I’m allowed to sleep in”, the blonde clarified while Aidan put on some boxers, jeans and a shirt. “Come on sleepyhead, get up”, Aidan chuckled and leaned over his partner, who did not move one inch, running his hand over the photographer’s temple. “I have to show you something before I leave for work.” At that, Dean turned his face towards the Irishman, “You could have just left the coffee on the bedside table, you know. No need for me to get up …” Aidan punched his naked shoulder playfully and replied, “No coffee in bed due to … extracurricular activities”, Dean snorted at that, “But, I might just have something to compensate.” Dean frowned, “Compensation for coffee, not possible.”

Aidan pulled back and shrugged, “Well, no surprise then …” and left the bedroom. He thought the he could hear the blonde’s head rising from the pillow and smirked. That had been easy enough. Just as Aidan was shrugging into is Chucks, a stark naked Kiwi emerged from his bedroom. “Okay, I’m here, I’m here – What’s so important that it required me, out of bed?”

Aidan inwardly smirked, but only pointed towards his closet-guestroom. Dean raised his eyebrows, “I know your broom cabinet, Aid!” Without a change in his neutral facial expression, the Irishman emphasized his point towards the door one more time and the photographer rolled his eyes but still made his way over and opened the door. What came out of the older man’s mouth, however, was a sound that sounded more like somebody was trying to strangle him. Aidan sneaked up behind him and placed an arm around his lover’s belly. “What was that?” Aidan whispered into his ear, at which the photographer only gaped. “Aidan, what IS THAT?” he exclaimed after a few moments of silence.

“It’s your studio, my little Kiwi”, the Irishman smirked over his shoulder.

“My … But … Aidan I’m naked!” Dean exclaimed and the dark-haired man chuckled, “I am well aware!”

“You can’t give overwhelming presents like that when the receiving party is naked!” Dean replied indignantly. “No one told me”, Aidan murmured and Dean replied, “My dick is dangling between my legs Aid, you could have guessed that.” Now Aidan couldn’t hold back any longer and laughed out loudly at that and after a few moments, Dean joined in as well. “Do you like it?” Aidan asked a bit insecurely, once their laughter had died down. “I wasn’t sure about all the supplies but I had this guy helping me out, Orlando, and he said it would be everything you needed but …” Aidan stopped his rambling once Dean turned right on his spot. “Of course I like it, I love it, baby” he kissed Aidan caringly, “but you shouldn’t have! It surely cost a fortune …” Aidan only shrugged, seeing the gratefulness in his lover’s eyes, “You can pay me back in sex. It’s as easy as that …” Dean snorted, clearly thinking _And there goes romance …_ “Plus”, Aidan continued, “When you’re a really famous artist, photographer and academic, I am counting on you spoiling me. Being your eye-candy boyfriend and everything …” Dean grinned and nodded, “I’ll spoil you rotten.”

Aidan smiled, “You really like it? I mean it’s not big but …”

A finger was laid onto his lips, “I love it Aidan. Thank you so very much …” at which the finger was replaced by a kiss. Once they had said their goodbyes and Aidan was almost out of his door, Dean piped up, “Did you just say Orlando?”

Aidan nodded, “Yeah. And, believe it or not, it’s actually his real name. I saw his driver’s license.”

“Who on earth christens their kid Orlando?” Dean muttered and Aidan only winked before he left for work.

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers!  
> As I am going to be gone for another week, I thought I'll leave you just another chapter.  
> Thank you so much for your kind comments and the KUDOS. You constantly make my day! <3

 

The rest of the week flew by in a happy and joyful blur – where Aidan was told that he indeed was disgustingly happy, which he counted as a success, of course. The hardships of his job did not get to him as badly as they often did, he met complaints of patients with a smile while he only thought of his evenings which were either spent with some respectively all of their friends in pubs or at Aidan’s shoebox of a flat or singularly with Dean. And as much as he loved Adam telling them how horrible the two of them were, rubbing his state of single-dom right under his nose that was usually met by a slap of Leonora, or Graham teasing the both of them that he would serve them no further drinks for both of them still needed to “get it up tonight”, Aidan loved their quiet (or sometimes not-so-quiet) nights at home as well. In a nutshell: Dean was here and life was good – even though he sometimes could strangle the Kiwi for his countless “Aid, just a sec; I need to take this picture.”

Friday came and Aidan walked into his last tour around the floor with a grin, already thinking of their first trip to Cornwall over the weekend where Dean and himself wanted to assess how bad the cottage actually was. This meant that the two of them had gotten a room in a small B&B close to their future holiday destination and wanted to determine if they needed to simply bring cleaning stuff or the toolkit. Aidan had gotten the keys as well as the rough directions from Maggie earlier that day and assured her to bring some pictures back to her next appointment on Monday. So he walked around a strangely-deserted oncology, checking if anything needed another round of cleaning when he saw Richard holding himself up on a nearby wall – and only barely so. “Richard!” Aidan exclaimed and jogged over to him, steadying the man taller than him. “Easy … easy. Alright, you think you can make it to the seats over there?” Aidan asked and Richard only nodded. Once they had made the about thirteen feet to the chairs that were supposed to play host to visitors, Richard sat down with a sigh, “Thank you, Aidan.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it, Richard. My God … what happened?” Aidan asked, still a bit perplexed, and ran a soothing hand down the other man’s back. It was only then that Aidan realized how bad he actually looked. Richard looked years older than only two weeks ago, hair falling out and much thinner than when he had last seen him. Chemo truly was a bitch.

“I …” Richard started but got a coughing fit and Aidan sprinted over to the water dispenser and got the older man a glass of water. After hesitantly taking a gulp, he got his voice back. “Thanks again, Aidan.” The curly-haired man only grinned at him and squeezed his shoulder, “I wanted to say that I had my fourth chemo today and am looking forward to the last session next week like I have to nothing else in my entire life.”

Aidan chuckled, “Hey, at least you haven’t lost your humor.”

Richard briefly closed his eyes, “Oh God, this is terrible!” He sighed audibly and it was only then that Aidan realized the lack of American-Model-Type-Lee at Richard’s side. Thinking of not being too blunt for once, Aidan carefully asked, “What were you doing out here, walking on your own right after chemo? That’s dangerous Richard …”

Richard looked down onto his hands which were still wrapped around the glass of water, “Well, there was no one else …”

Aidan frowned, “What happened to the American plastered to your side?” He didn’t know if it was too much but he got a small smile out of Richard, so he supposed it hadn’t been too bad. “Yeah … He’s not here today.”

Aidan nodded. He wasn’t going to get anything else. Just as well, “Anybody else? Family, friends? Anyone?” Just a shake of head. Aidan nodded again. “Okay, tell you what …”, he said and straightened from his kneeling position on the floor, “If you manage to wait here for about ...”, he checked his watch, “… twenty minutes, I’ll come back and pick you up again before I am ensuring that you get home safely by offering my services as an escort.” He cringed, “Not the sexy kind – the concerned kind.” Richard chuckled but shook his head, “That is very kind of you, Aidan, but I couldn’t ask of you to do that …”

“I know, but see, I want to do that. Thankfully for you, I am in a very good mood today and it seems that the universe has chosen you to profit from that.” Aidan smiled and looked at Richard expectantly. Slowly, the Irishman saw acceptance crawl into the features of the other man, so he didn’t even wait to hear a response but only clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “Great! See you in a few …” before he continued with his tour around oncology only turning around once to shout, “And don’t you dare get up on your own again!”

About forty minutes after their initial meeting that day, both men got into a taxi and gave the driver the address of Richard’s flat that, as Aidan had found out, was in convenient walking-distance from his own. Pleasant surprise, that. During the cab-ride, Aidan’s hand barely ever left Richard’s body completely. But what would have made the Irishman’s heart beat faster during one of their previous meetings (he was in a relationship, not dead) right now the sole purpose was to give the other man, whose head was undoubtedly spinning, some sense of gravity. Aidan just hoped he wouldn’t vomit the earlier consumed water.

Richard did not disappoint and after both had split the tab – “Aidan, I insist that I am paying for this!” – “You can insist as much as you want but I have to tell you, I am the impersonation of a stubborn Irishman.” – Aidan helped Richard walk up the stairs to his flat. Once inside Aidan had to say that it was a really nice flat, big, well-lived in and looked after, books and teacups on every surface. The curly haired man liked that. Richard, however, apologized, “I am sorry that my flat is in such a state but …” Aidan waved his hand, “If anyone has an apology for not having a spotless flat, it is a cancer patient undergoing chemo.” That earned him a weak smile from the other man. “Speaking of which: Do I have to worry all night about you hitting your head on something or have you thought about someone you could call and who can check on you?” Richard, who sat down on his sofa, chuckled, “I’m sure you have better things than me to think about …” Aidan threw his hand against his chest in mock-offense, “Are you doubting my commitment to the patients of my dearly-loved workplace?” Now he had Richard chuckling; mission accomplished.

After a small cough the other man replied, “I have called my brother. Back at the hospital when I had been … waiting. He is coming over later that evening.” Aidan nodded, at least half-satisfied. “Okay, good. Good. … Hand over your phone.” The older man raised an eyebrow, “What, are you going to check if I was lying?” Aidan smirked, “That, and I am entering my number. Just in case …” As Richard handed over the device, not without raising the second eyebrow, that was more effected than the first one by the chemo, he asked, “Not that I do not appreciate your concern but do you do this to every patient you come across?” Aidan grinned and handed Richard his phone back, “Only for those who almost-faint on my watch.” Richard smiled and nodded again and after thanking Aidan for the, what the curly-haired man thought to be the millionth time, Aidan let himself out of the apartment and started the pleasant walk towards his own flat.

At said flat, he found the expected Kiwi and with him Leonora as well as Adam, both of which waved their full forks at him. “Gee, thanks for waiting with starting dinner …” Aidan exclaimed in mock-offense while he kicked his shoes off. Once he entered the kitchen, he gave Dean a quick peck on the lips before he got himself a plate and shoved some of the lasagna that Dean had made (undoubtedly with Adam’s help) on it before he sat down at the last empty chair at his table. “Well, I waited for you at the lockers but you didn’t show up and when I asked Toby he said that you had already hurried out …” Leonora explained with her mouth full at which Adam wrinkled his nose. “And instead of organizing a search party you chose to celebrate my absence with lasagna?! Seriously, I am _hurt_.” Dean patted his shoulder, “You’re a big boy, you can look after yourself.” Aidan gasped, “Thanks for your concern, boyfriend.” Dean snorted and Adam rolled his eyes. “The lasagna is amazing”, Aidan said after taking one bite, “Thanks Adam.” “Hey!” Dean exclaimed and threw his napkin at Aidan who pulled it from its landing point on top of his lasagna with outstretched fingers before sending them all a blinding smile.

“Before you two get into a wrestling match that I really don’t have to witness, would you mind telling me what has taken you so long? Not even the subway on a Friday afternoon takes that long …” Leonora asked and three respective pairs of eyes rested on him. Aidan grinned inwardly, took another bite of lasagna and a sip of Dean’s wine (“Hey!” again) before he said “I have been taken back to the flat of dark, handsome guy by the very same.” Adam and Dean only started at Aidan in confusion but Leonora gasped, “What?! The one from radiology?” Aidan smirked, “The very same.”

“Oh my God, Aidan! Seriously, how do you always do that?” Leonora asked while Adam wrinkled his forehead, “Who are we talking about? … And why am I more concerned about the fact that Aidan has been to some hot guy’s flat than his boyfriend is?” Dean grinned and patted Aidan’s knee under the table while Aidan only answered, “He knows that this comes with having an eye-candy boyfriend.” Dean smiled at Aidan with a mouth full of lasagna while Adam only snorted. Then Leonora and Aidan told the other two about their first meeting with Richard – “Ooooh, so his name is Richard!” quote Leonora – and Aidan filled them in on the additional details until today where he found the guy almost fainting in one of the oncology-corridors and the follow-up trip to Richard’s flat. “And isn’t your boyfriend a darling?” Leonora cooed mockingly and Aidan seriously considered to change the term boyfriend into partner. Christ, he felt like in high school again. Dean nodded, “He is …” Adam only nodded, “That was really nice of you Aid …”

The addressed one shrugged, “What was I going to do? Leave him dying in his own vomit or something? And if anything, me giving him my number only protects me from worrying all night …” Leonora took a sip of wine, “Seriously, in any other situation I would say something along the lines of ‘ _Sure it is!_ ’ but being alone after the fourth chemo is tough. Where are the eye-candy boyfriends when you need them?” Aidan only shrugged, “He is not here today – quote Richard. That was all I got.” The girl frowned, “Seems weird as he was watching over his boyfriend like a hawk previously …” Now Adam waved his fork, “Wait! So the hot cancer patient …” Aidan waved his hands, “This is wrong on so many levels, Adam!” but it was like he never said anything, “… has an eye-candy boyfriend too? Jesus Christ, am I really the only single gay male in the realm of London? I need to move, guys, I need to move!” All of them chuckled and Dean patted Adam on the shoulder, “Your Prince Charming will come, don’t worry!” Adam huffed, “Forget Prince Charming, I’d take Frankenstein’s Creation by now …” Everyone was caught in a fit of laughter, thankfully including Adam.

When Dean and Aidan lay together in bed that night, Aidan’s head on Dean’s shoulder, the blonde murmured, “That was really nice of you today Aid.” The Irishman nodded slightly, “I just … He seemed so lost. You know, this guy is huge – huge, Dean – but he looked so lost and miserable. Something has happened, I know this. Of course, he didn’t tell me what it was, why should he? But I hoped that I could help … somehow.” He felt Dean kiss the top of his head, “I am certain that you did. Only the knowledge that someone is there to help if the need arises is a great comfort.” Aidan hummed, “My Deano, the philosopher!” Both men chuckled and fell asleep soon after.

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys, sorry for the slight delay!  
> Anyways, now it's time for the famous cottage, so here we go ...

 

“Okay … Aidan, do you want to say it or should I?”

Aidan only closed his eyes in defeat and nodded to himself. He could take it, he was strong enough, “Go ahead, say it …”

He heard Dean take a deep breath, “This place is a dump!”

And Aidan could only nod – this place really was a dump. And Aidan was sure that Maggie would get a heart attack right away if she knew; which she doubtlessly didn’t. Sure, she had said that the cottage was “poorly maintained” but there was a difference between “poorly maintained” and a hole in the roof, missing/shattered windows and leaking pipes. And that were only the major problems; of course there wasn’t enough furniture there to satisfy them over the course of two weeks (“I’m sure some teenagers have gotten just about anything that moved and have sold it via ebay or something”, Dean had mused and Aidan could only agree), there was dirt everywhere, which in itself wasn’t surprising as half of the windows were missing and as they entered the cottage, a very angry looking hedgehog disappeared into one of the backrooms. “Do you think that hedgehogs can actually look pissed or am I being paranoid?” Aidan had asked and Dean had only replied, “You are not being paranoid, I saw it too.” All things considered, they couldn’t go and live here like it looked now.

“Remember when we worried during our train ride that checking into our small-town B&B as a gay couple would be our worst problem?” Aidan asked after a few moments of shocked silence. “Yup”, came the confirmation from Dean beside him. Aidan squeezed his hand, “I want that moment back!” Dean laid his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder and pulled him close. “It’s gonna be fine … And if we don’t find a solution for this, we could always go somewhere else for a holiday.” Sometimes Aidan was so happy about the fact that Dean was older than him because in situations like this, he could be the pouting baby and Dean had to play the adult. “But … the wild and unruly sea?” Aidan asked, reminiscing their Skype-conversation. Dean chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll look just as horrid in a three-size-too-big woolen sweater somewhere else, babe.” … And Dean could make him laugh, that was a good thing too.

At night, they were sitting in the town’s pub, both with a burger in front of them and a pint on the side. “Okay, so … we need to think about this. I mean, we cannot simply go there and repair things. First, it would be a crime and second, … not to be selfish or anything, but if I invest myself in physically straining work”, Aidan only raised an eyebrow and Dean rolled his eyes, “… outside of the bed, alright? If I do that, I would rather do it to something that does not entirely belong to another person.” Aidan nodded, “Absolutely, I mean … it will probably take us the two weeks alone to make it … _livable_.” Dean waved his wand that held two fries at him, “Exactly. I mean, I could probably do most of it myself … maybe with an additional pair of hands. But that takes time Aid.” The Irishman sighed, “I know … I need to talk to Maggie on Monday. Thankfully, we took pictures of just about anything. Maybe I should show them to her next to emergency … if she gets a heart attack or anything.” Dean snorted but Aidan only shook his head, “She couldn’t have known that it looked like this. She would have told me …” Dean reached out for Aidan’s hand that was curled around his pint and squeezed it, “Surely she didn’t. You said it yourself, she hadn’t been there in years.” Aidan worried his bottom lip between his teeth, “Dean, I’m so sorry.” That earned him a frown, “Whatever for?” the Kiwi asked. Aidan sighed and let his shoulders slack in defeat, “That I … well, I am responsible for this. We could have just booked some nice holiday somewhere warm, with a pool and a bar and … Christ, windows! And a roof! And without judgmental hedgehogs. But no, I had to suggest the cottage. And now it looks like we aren’t getting any holidays at all.” Dean let his burger sink to his plate, wiped his greasy hands on the napkin and moved his chair to that he now sat next to Aidan, “Now listen here: None of this is your fault. You wanted to make a perfect holiday for us and I was so happy about it that I didn’t even think about a plan B. Because, as cheesy as that may sound, I don’t need a five star hotel or a pool or a bar if only I’m spending time with you.” Aidan huffed and Dean added, “Okay, maybe windows would be nice”, which caused a chuckle from Aidan, “But spending time, real-time with my boyfriend? That’s the best holiday I can go on …” Aidan laughed as Dean laid an arm around his shoulders, “It’s not so bad … Let’s talk to Maggie on Monday and we decide from then, okay?” The younger man nodded, “What did I do to deserve you?” “Nothing. You just look good …” Dean teased and both men chuckled.

They were jerked apart by somebody clearing their throat next to them. “Can I get you anything else guys?”

Both men looked up at the waiter/barkeeper/pub-owner whose name was Luke, as both had come to find out. “Ah yes, could you get us two more pints? We’re going to need them today …” Dean said and Aidan knew that the blonde was just as happy as he was that it had been Luke and not somebody who had a problem with their PDAs. They already had already had the in the past. “Tough day?” Luke asked and Aidan sighed, “You could say that …” The waiter cringed, “Oh dear! I’ll be back in a sec.” And he was, two beers in hand and wanting to know what the problem was. So they explained not caring if the guy only feigned interest as both needed a witness to their misery and Luke only nodded, scratching his neck, “Yeah … the cottage looks terrible. It all started when a branch fell onto the roof. Then the wind had knocked a few windows out and at some point, some teens got in and have partied there at weekends and such …” Aidan and Dean nodded. “We don’t know what we want to do yet, so we’re going to talk to the owner on Monday and see if we are even starting with repairs”, Aidan explained. A smile started to spread across Luke’s face, “Well, if you do, do let me know. I’d love to help.” Both men smiled at the waiter and Dean answered, “That’s very kind of you Luke but … why? It’s none of your business …” The dark haired man shook his head, “No, it’s not. But I’ve known Maggie when I was a boy and she was always very nice, despite being …” he trailed off. “A badass?” Aidan offered and Luke laughed, “Exactly. A badass. I am happy if I can help and it would keep my mind off things so …” Dean raised his eyebrows and Aidan asked, “Oh? Something bad?” But Luke only shook his head, “Nope, not really. Actually, something not even worth thinking about anymore, which is why I would need something to distract me.” He smiled and walked back towards the bar, Aidan and Dean grinning at him, noticing a deflection when they saw one.

 

“Actually, that offer could come in handy, given the fact that we would start with renovating the place …” Dean reflected on Luke’s offer later that day when both men were talking a walk towards the really breathtaking cliffs as a distraction. “Dean seriously, I appreciate your New Zealandian-optimism, but I cannot see how we could get that cottage in a state resembling something a human being can live in within two weeks.” Aidan sighed, tucking some locks that had found their way out of his bun behind his ear which was a pointless movement in itself as the wind had it back out again in mere seconds. “New Zealandian?” Dean chuckled and Aidan nodded, “Yep. I just made that up and it’s totally acceptable.” Dean grinned and squeezed Aidan’s hand with his own. “That’s what I meant Aid, there is simply no way that this can be done in two weeks. So I thought, given Maggie’s consent, that I could come down here earlier and start working on it. But I would need help … I mean, yes, I’ve fixed stuff back at home, but this is something else altogether. So, as I was saying, Luke’s help would come in handy.”

Aidan chuckled, “I see. So you want to abandon your boyfriend, whom you have not seen all year back at London, where the same has to deal with the hardships of work whilst you and that sexy barkeeper are doing physically strenuous hence sweat producing work in the Cornwall sun? Did I get that right?”

Dean turned towards Aidan, eyebrows raised, “Don’t tell me you are getting jealous now, Irishman.”

Aidan smirked, “I am not doubting you, Dean dearest. I am concerned that that Luke-guy can’t contain himself.” Now Dean laughed out loudly, “Yeah, because we can tell only by sight that he’s gay …” Aidan interjected, “Those jeans, Dean. Those jeans, that’s all I’m saying …” Dean rolled his eyes, “Judgmental, are we? Anyway, I was saying: First, we don’t even know if he’s gay and second; I know that I am not exactly hideous but I would not consider myself endangered of being suddenly jumped by some guy whilst picking up a hammer.”

Aidan chuckled, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that …”

Dean rolled his eyes and pulled Aidan close by their joined hands so he could lay his arms around the Irishman’s shoulder, “And besides, what would I do with another dark-haired eye-candy boyfriend with a weird accent?”

“WEIRD ACCENT?!!!” Aidan exclaimed indignantly, hair flying wild around his head in the wind. Dean started laughing whilst Aidan added pouting, “I’ll have you know that you have praised my accent as being quite arousing in morally highly compromising situations.” Dean waved his free hand, “Gah, that was only the arousal speaking.”

“Pft! Don’t be under the impression that you’ll get your arousal taken care of tonight”, Aidan declared dramatically, at which Dean only laughed whole-heartedly before placing a kiss next to Aidan’s ear. “Stop pouting and let me take your picture.”

Aidan threw his hand against his chest in mock-offense, “You are thinking of photography now? Whilst I am being in an emotional turmoil due to the cause of my heritage?”

Dean only raised his eyebrow, “But: The wild and unruly sea, Aidan!” Even whilst saying this Dean started to grin, which turned into another laugh at Aidan’s “Goodness gracious! Photographers!”

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Finally a proof of life from my side - sorry about my recent absence. The start of the semester might do that to you, I'm afraid.
> 
> I truly hope you enjoy the next chapter that will finally contain a little more Aidan/Richard than previously . A slight warning though, there will be more mention of chemo therapy and possible side effects (that I have not reserached, so please bear with me). 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has left Kudos and comments, you guys make my day <3

 

To be fair, the whole scenario wasn’t exactly as Aidan had pictured it, but very close. And the unforeseeable state of the cottage added an element of extra-drama to the whole scene that Aidan was sure would satisfy the soap opera-loving population of the hospital for a week:

Once Aidan had introduced Dean to Maggie, who lay already waiting and anticipating their arrival on her designated bed, both bonded over the fact that they had respectively heard so much of each other, their teasing of Aidan as well as Dean’s pictures of the cottage. “Oh … Oh dear! Heaven’s this looks as if it had been taken from the seventh circle of Dante’s inferno!” the elder lady exclaimed – for the whole floor to hear. Well, Aidan had to say that he wouldn’t have put it like that, but it was close. In short, Maggie was horrified, for her own part as well as for Dean’s and Aidan’s. And she did all three of them justice. So Aidan left Dean and his pictures with Maggie, not without a look that screamed _‘Are you serious right now?’_ on the part of his boyfriend and tended to his duties, not without promising to check back on them. On his first visit where he checked if everything with Maggie’s treatment was in order – purely a formality as she would have called upon the nurses quite effectively, being a long-term patient and everything – Maggie had calmed down at least somewhat. On the second visit both were talking animatedly on what Dean had taken pictures of could be repaired and how, and on Aidan’s third visit Maggie was firmly clutching Dean’s hand, looking at him sternly: “Aidan, you have found yourself a true treasure of a man. Don’t you ever let him slip away, dear.” Aidan grinned at the two of them, “I can assure you that I am going to do everything in my power to prevent that.” She nodded resolutely, “Very well, just what I like to hear.” Dean looked smug, if anything.

 

Over dinner that day, Dean explained to Aidan what he and Maggie had agreed on:  
Dean would go down to Cornwall and try to repair everything as best as he could - not without Maggie pointing out that he obviously was under no obligation of doing so but the Kiwi had insisted that he would enjoy helping out. Maggie had arranged for Dean to stay in Luke’s inn (yes, Dean had told Maggie about Luke too and apparently, she actually did remember him) and would of course pay for it as well as for the repairs that the two of them would not be able to do themselves. In return for their work, Maggie would contact her lawyer and set up a contract that would allow Aidan and Dean to use the cottage for their holidays from then on. Aidan had to chuckle at the way that Dean enacted the conversation between the two of them where Dean emphasized that something like a contract would not be necessary but Maggie insisted as everything needed to be in order, speaking in legal terms. Aidan accepted with a sigh, “Seems like I am not going to see as much of you as I would have liked …”

Dean grinned, “Obviously, you are going to visit on your days off.”

Aidan huffed, “Obviously. To start working all over again.” Dean shrugged, “Hey, that’s the price for my company as I am ensuring that we are going to have an orderly cottage with a roof and windows and everything – hopefully in time for your holidays.”

Aidan leaned over the table and kissed Dean, “You are a good man, Dean O’Gorman.” The same smirked, “I know. That’s why I chose to be with you, equally good Aidan Turner.” They shared another kiss. “Hmmm”, Aidan murmured, “I am going to miss this …”

Dean smirked, “Well then, why don’t we make most of the time while I’m still here?” Aidan grinned knowingly but had to say he was surprised that Dean deemed his kitchen table worthy of the adult entertainment. For once, the curly-haired man was happy that his kitchen window faced a wall. As Dean started to chuckle a good way into driving Aidan insane with his slow thrusts, Aidan raised his eyebrow, “I fail to see the amusement in tormenting me, my dear … AH!” Seriously, this rhythm was going to be the end of him. “I just thought”, Dean started and promptly added another thrust, “that if Adam ever knew about” thrust, “this”, thrust, “he’d probably never eat at that table again.” Aidan’s corresponding chuckle however was forced into submission by another throaty moan.

 

As Dean departed the next day already, Aidan appeared sulking at the hospital – something that did not change the days after. As he had taken the previous weekend off, the next time he had more than one day at his disposal was in about two weeks. He hated this even though he knew very well that he was being childish. Thankfully, Adam and Leonora were backing him up and assuring him that he was being perfectly reasonable; something that was however not shared by Toby, who did not get tired of underlining that Dean was doing this solely for him. Aidan knew this perfectly well himself – still, he would prefer not to be confined to mobile devices _again_ when he wanted to communicate with his boyfriend.

Said boyfriend however told Aidan on the first Thursday night that now they had a check from a local plumber as well as someone who could repair their “roof things”, as he called it, did not seem too hopeless. The main lack in the plumbing had been found and everything else could apparently be rather easily tended to. Also, Dean underlined frequently how great Luke was, something that Aidan acknowledged with mock-jealousy. Of course he knew that there would be nothing between them. He fondly remembered that one time where Dean had called him in the New Zealandian-dead of night, completely freaked out. Aidan had feared that someone of his family or friends had been in an accident or even died, but no, that hadn’t been it. The thing was that some male student of him had tried to kiss him at one of their semester closing parties. Aidan had only laughed and assured him that everything was fine. “No, but you don’t understand Aidan! At first I kissed him back because I was so shocked! My mind had gone blank! And then I thought I was doing the polite thing and only then I realized how ridiculous I was and I pushed him away and …” That had only intensified Aidan’s laughter because this was just so purely Dean: Kissing someone he did not want to because he didn’t want to insult the other party. This assured Aidan that nothing … untoward would happen between Dean and Luke. Still, hearing from your boyfriend how funny the man he was currently spending time with was did definitely not rank in the top three of Aidan’s preferred topics.

This was the reason why Aidan entered his beloved workplace with a cloud over his head the next day. Children vomiting all over the floor did not help to lighten his mood. Oh yes, it was stomach flu season again. Not even Leonora could cheer him up during their lunch break. And as Aidan accidentally came across Richard who looked more dead than alive after his last chemo treatment, Aidan just gave up and admitted that his day sucked. Still, he went up to Richard and needlessly asked how he was doing, only to learn that yet again, the other man was here on his own. Point proven most successfully. But at least this gave Aidan something to do other than wallow in self-pity which was the reason for him taking Richard back to his apartment for a second time. Once there, the first thing Richard did was hurry (well, as much as possible) into the bathroom and vomit. Aidan cringed and immediately steadied Richard once he tried to make his way over to the kitchen. “Oh, no way! You are going to sit or better lie on the couch and I’m making some tea”, Aidan interjected and did not want to hear any protest of the other man. Once he had familiarized himself with the kitchen appliances, he had some tea ready in no time. “I’ll have you know that I’ll make a mean cuppa so you better drink all of it”, Aidan announced once he carried their two mugs over.

“Is that so?” Richard teased and adjusted himself on the sofa and gratefully took the offered mug.”

“Of course it is! Now drink”, Aidan smiled his probably first smile that day at Richard’s grin. “It’s really good”, the other man confirmed and Aidan nodded, “I told you.”

Richard chuckled, “That you did.”

After a few moments of silence, Aidan asked the question he had waited to ask since he had encountered Richard in the recovering room that day, “Is anybody going to stay with you today?”

Richard shook his head, “No. I … My brother is away on business and my parents are too far away. Also, they aren’t too well themselves and I don’t want them to worry …”

Aidan waited, nothing came. So he addressed the elephant in the room, “And your … partner? Lee, wasn’t it?” At the mentioning of the other man’s name, Richard looked so miserable that Aidan wanted to bite his tongue off. After what seemed like an eternity, Richard answered, “Yeah … Lee. Lee is out of the picture I’m afraid …”

“Oh! I’m … I’m sorry. Why? If you don’t mind me asking …” Aidan couldn’t imagine that the guy who had been inseparable from his boyfriend and watched over him like a hawk had packed his bags and gone on his way to America. Especially with Richard being in a situation like he was. On the other hand, the picture of Richard breaking up with Lee didn’t fit either. The dark-haired man might seem like the brooding and moody kind, but deep down Aidan assumed that he was a rather tender person. And certainly not one to break up with his boyfriend just like that.

Richard took a deep breath and Aidan witnessed that the fingers around the mug tightened, “I guess we didn’t want … or care for the same things. I …” Richard bit his lip, clearly fighting back tears. Then he took a deep breath and continued with a forced, steady voice, “I had assumed that our relationship was more than just … physical. But apparently, I had been wrong about that.”

“Come again?” Aidan didn’t understand a single thing. Was Lee appalled by Richard’s current lack of hair or his dry skin?

A single tear forced its way down Richard’s cheek. “Lee broke up with me because …”, his voice broke and he had to take a sip of tea before he continued, “… because I wasn’t able to … perform. Sexually.”

Aidan coughed into his mug of tea. “Excuse me?!!!” he exclaimed. Richard only looked pointedly at him, slightly blushing, with more tears running down his cheeks.

“You were in chemo for the treatment of prostate cancer!” Aidan knew that he was stating the obvious, but _fucking hell_! What was this guys’ problem?

“I know but … I mean … It had always been really important to him and … I tried but …” Richard by then shook with sobs, Aidan still staring at him flabbergasted. “What was the problem with putting up with his right hand for a month or two? … Or the left hand, whatever! Not the point!”

“I even offered to … but … Why am I telling you that?” Richard forced a chuckle, even though he cried painfully by then. Aidan didn’t know what Richard had offered; and he didn’t care. Both scenarios, either offering him to receive even though it did absolutely nothing for him, except pain him because of the chemo, or oral sex right after you vomited your guts out, made Aidan’s skin crawl. He walked over to the sofa, where a miserably crying Richard sat and pulled the man into his arms. “In case you haven’t noticed it yet Richard: Lee was the one who is to blame in all this. Not you. I forbid you to spend one more thought about that. It’s ridiculous!” He patted the back of the man who was sobbing onto his shoulder by then, “You are fighting goddamn prostate cancer and the only thing he can think about it shagging you? Clearly there’s something wrong with him and not the other way round … What a prick!” Aidan cringed, “Sorry, poor choice of words!” At least, it forced a chuckle out of the man clinging to him so Aidan did not count it as a total loss.

After what could have been a minute or ten, Richard’s sobs seemed to cease and he sat up, taking a deep breath after which Aidan could almost see nausea kicking in again. Still, the taller man steadied himself, “Aidan. I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me … I’m sure you’re not – “ Aidan raised his hand, “You stop right there! I know well enough how much it can help to have somebody, _anybody_ listen to you when your world seems crumbling down to pieces which seem to catch fire as soon as they hit the ground. Therefore”, Aidan emphasized by raising a finger, “I am more than willing to listen to you bitch about that …” Aidan pulled himself together, “… man, ex-partner of yours all you like. Should you not be into that and/or to pay me back you can listen to me bitching about work or … the impending doom of a quite potentially disastrous holiday. I can surely think of something. After all, we have a lot of time to kill.” Aidan settled onto the brown sofa more comfortably, clutching the mug with still-steaming tea firmer into his hands.

Richard raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

Aidan waved haphazardly towards Richard’s living room, “Well, I’m staying of course …” Richard’s “Pardon?” was met with an exasperated eye-roll from the Irishman, “If you truly think that I am going to leave you alone in this state – physical and emotional – you, Sir, are gravely mistaken.” Aidan noted amusedly that according to is facial expression, Richard did not quite know if he should be scandalized or relived by Aidan’s not-quite-offer. “So”, Aidan said and put the mug down on a side table next to the sofa, “let’s settle the most important thing before we spill our darkest secrets to each other: Do you have any biscuits at home?”

Over the course of the next few hours, Aidan learned quite a lot about Richard:  
From a very young age, Richard had always known that he wanted to work in theatre. Not an actor per se, as he was today, but just _somewhere_. Writing plays, lighting, directing assistance – anything. So he started at the bottom, running errands for small local theatres in Huncote, then, moving to London to start a professional education. His parents had always be very supporting of the idea – as well as his homosexuality, which they accepted right away. Aidan winced. He just wished that he could say the same for him. When Richard had gotten a few larger parts in plays in London as well as a few leading roles at theatres in Leicestershire, he had made a name of himself (Aidan painfully noticing that he had never heard of a Richard Armitage before) and hence gotten an offer to play in New York which obviously he took. That was the time he met Lee, actor himself, and best friend of one of his colleagues at the time. Being rather introverted himself, Richard admitted that he had been swept off his feet by a quite open and boisterous Lee who became his boyfriend soon after. Aidan had to admit that in Richard’s tales, he seemed quite charming and not like the absolute douchebag he currently seemed to be. But then, Aidan knew that memory oftentimes was not the most objective source of reference. To change the topic, Aidan wanted to know which plays Richard had starred in, which ones were his favorites and why and came to find out that the man opposite him liked quite a few of his smaller parts better than for example his leading role in New York, purely due to the fun they had while rehearsing or the chance to work with one of his idols. Aidan smiled and nodded. That seemed to fit the picture he had painted of Richard absolutely well.

Then, however, with being a good actor came a good sense of empathy as well as a talent to read other people and pick up subtle hints casually dropped during conversation or any other form of interaction. Therefore, Richard had obviously taken up on Aidan’s phrase of one’s world _crumbling down to pieces which seem to catch fire as soon as they hit the ground_ , as Aidan had phrased things at a previous point in their conversation. As he wanted to know what that had meant, Aidan practically had no choice but to tell the sad tale of how his very catholic family had gotten to know about his own preference for men and had not taken it as well as Richard’s parents had. Once Aidan had refused to submit to any sort of “treatment” they had thrown him out and declared that he was no longer their son. Aidan deliberately skipped a few rather disturbing facts related to his coming out. Richard did not need that kind of negativity right now. So the curly-haired man skipped right to the time when he decided to move to London as Ireland bore too many painful memories of happier days. There, he had met Adam, who had taken him in – “I surely had to be a pitiful sight and Adam’s mother-hen instinct had kicked in full-force!” – and slowly got his life into an at least halfway decent routine that also included his less than ideal job at the hospital. Aidan had to admit, it was not his favorite topic of conversation, but as Richard had practically bared his soul admitting to the way as well as the reason Lee had left him, he practically had no choice. Plus, Richard’s quiet yet intense way of listening made Aidan feel safe and taken seriously. Which sometimes was hard even for people who knew him for a much longer time than Richard had. He always blamed his extroverted and joking ways of dealing with life for it. As he mentioned the latter part to Richard, just as both men had discovered how much time had passed and the actor telling Aidan that he was going to retire for the day, Richard smiled, “I have to say, I enjoy your joking ways of dealing with life. I always think that I usually take things too seriously.” Aidan smiled, grabbing the last biscuit after Richard had wordlessly refused, “Seems like we complement each other then.”

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

Thanks to his newly formed friendship with Richard – and yes, Aidan indeed considered the bond that had formed between them over the visits following the one night Aidan had stayed on Richard’s couch after his fifth chemo – the two weeks leading up to his trip to Cornwall seemed to pass in no time. The Irishman was almost surprised as one night, after he had just returned home from Richard, whose health thankfully seemed to improve gradually, he got a call from a very distressed sounding Adam wanting to know where he had been and if he was going to continue wallowing in self-pity over Dean’s departure.  Aidan immediately felt guilty. So he met Adam the following night in Graham’s pub where both passed a nice night-out between friends. Aidan even kept an eye out for any potential bloke Adam might be interested in, but no such luck. Sometimes, Aidan really did feel sorry for his friend, who was one of the nicest, kindest and most intelligent people he had ever met. He could not wrap his mind around why the other man had such bad luck with his past “relationships” that never seemed to last.

Aidan however only realized that how quickly time had passed once he had boarded the train to Cornwall one Friday evening after his shift and the corresponding, dreadfully boring hours spent inside. Legs bouncing with excitement, he practically counted the minutes until his arrival – which were quite a few, needless to say. Still, once he got off the strangely empty train and saw one grinning Kiwi standing on the platform, the hours of being condemned to do nothing but stare out the window were forgotten. More so, as both of them had a great supper and quite an impressive number of pints at Luke’s inn. Aidan was happy to find out that Dean too had seemed to make a new friend over attempting to repair the unrepairable, which both of the men took their turns in reporting to Aidan. Even though the Irishman had arrived rather late, both men stayed down at the bar for quite some time before they retired to their shared room. Lying down in the creaky but really comfortable bed, Aidan told Dean as much and also told him about Richard and how much time they had spent together. “Just imagine … Adam called me because he was afraid that I was still sulking over you going to Cornwall and drowning in self-pity…” Aidan snickered and buried his face in the crook of Dean’s neck. “What, you mean you _didn’t_? I am very disappointed Aid …” Dean replied in mock-offense and Aidan slapped him on the bare shoulder. “On the other hand, it isn’t too hard to have Adam worried …” Aidan nodded, “That is very true. Sometimes he really does behave like a mother-hen.” Dean hummed in response, “Sometimes I think he is compensating for not … you know, having a relationship and this is why he assures that we all see each other in reasonable amounts of time. Well, not when I’m in New Zealand but …”

Aidan nodded, “Yeah … Although I think even if he had a boyfriend, he’d still not stop. Do you think he would?”

Dean snickered, “Not a chance, no.”

Aidan sighed and looked up at the ceiling where the shadows of branches cast there by the moonlight were dancing. “I am always complaining about him being too overbearing but I’m sure I’d not have made it in London were it not for Adam. He even got me the job at the hospital, you know?” Dean only nodded; of course he knew. “Quite possibly, I’d be living on the streets were it not for his numerous friends and contacts. I should tell him that more often …” Dean smiled up at him and nodded, “Yeah, he’ll surely be happy to hear that. Even though I’m sure he knows that Leonora, Toby and you are just teasing …” Aidan winked and smiled back.

“But now …” Dean said and rose from his lying position to face Aidan, “… enough of other men. You are here, my boyfriend is here, we are in a bed again together after two weeks’ time. What could we possibly pass our time with?”

Aidan quirked his lips, “Sleep of course …” And at Dean’s frown he added, “After you have shagged my brains out, what else could we do but sleep?”

Dean grinned, “I like where you are going with this …” before both met in a passionate kiss.

 

As both men descended the old wooden stairs the following morning and sat down at the bar with mumbled ‘Good morning’s”, the dark-haired inn-keeper placed a plate with a hearty breakfast in front of each of them with a quite pointed “ _Good_ morning!” as well that left little doubt that he had heard each and every moan of both of them from the night before. Dean blushed and thanked Luke for the breakfast while Aidan only grinned and winked at him. Thankfully, Luke chuckled and shook his head. “Kids …” he muttered to which Dean replied, “Hey! I’ll have you know I’m older than you, young man!” Luke only raised an eyebrow, “Really? After last night I couldn’t have guessed …” Aidan snorted and shouted a “Respect your elders!” after the inn-keeper while Dean almost shoved him off his barstool. Now Aidan exclaimed a “Hey!” and after he settled back onto his seat, he added, “Aren’t old people supposed to be wise?” Dean nodded, “Hm, wise enough to know when the young and reckless kids are up to no good at least …” Luke came back, carrying a box with bottles of cider: “You are disgusting you two, do you know that?” He asked with a smile playing on his lips and Dean nodded eagerly, “So we’ve been told.” Which Aidan could only support, ”Repeatedly!” Luke chuckled and shook his head, “Are you heading out to the cottage today?” Dean nodded and swallowed a quite huge piece of toast, “Yeah, sure. I need to boast with our accomplishments now, don’t I?” Luke grinned and answered that he’d be there as soon as Gemma, who took today’s evening shift, arrived. Aidan raised his fork, “Speaking of accomplishments: This breakfast is amazing Luke. May we keep you? You know, after the repairs and everything?” Luke only shook his head grinning, “As much as I appreciate the compliment, I am not sure I’d be good at this kept-husband thing.” Aidan frowned and added dramatically, “Shame. What a _shame_!” while Dean only rolled his eyes.

“Okay, now stop with this charade at once and show me the real cottage”, Aidan aimed at a joke despite his awe. This certainly had nothing in common with the cottage the two of them had left behind. This one had a completely new roof and plumbing system, windows and all the walls had already been painted. “I am not only capable of putting color on canvases, my dear!” Dean had whispered in Aidan’s ear. Furthermore, Dean explained that Luke had repaired the before deadly set of stairs with new pieces of wood and, most importantly, the judgmental hedgehogs were gone. They’d settled them in the garden, that, admittedly still looked like no one had set foot in there for countless years – which was basically true. “Well, once we tried to start out there but then the rain started again and there was just no way to continue without getting mud all over ourselves. Also, the priority was definitely the cottage – we can always tend to the garden on out holiday …” “U-huh”, Aidan said and Dean only grinned, “You did promise to work in that woolen sweater, babe …” Aidan snorted, “Yep, I know. I forgot to bring it this time but I can still work on something … What else needs to be done?”

Dean remarked that while the roof was being repaired, they noticed that the small storage room under the same was cramped with stuff that needed a good look and check if anything had been damaged. Aidan nodded eagerly but before Dean could work on something in the bathroom himself, Aidan pulled him back by his sleeve: “Have I told you recently how amazing you are, Dean O’Gorman?” The Kiwi smirked and ran his hand through Aidan’s locks, “Not explicitly but I got a vague idea last night …” Aidan chuckled and kissed his partner lovingly, “Thank you.” Dean nodded and winked at the dark-haired man, “Anything, my love.” As Aidan made his way up the small stairs, Dean grinned, “Luke helped too, you know.” Aidan chuckled, “So nice of you to mention that. Should I kiss him as well or do you think the hand-holding will do?” Dean’s laugh accompanied him up the stairs, together with a “You know I love when you get drastic my dear!”

Aidan did thank Luke, albeit in one might call the old-fashioned way, namely with a handshake and a friendly clap on the back. After the three of them had taken pictures of the quite numerous items of the storage room that were still intact, despite the previously gaping hole in the roof, Luke explained what he had imagined for the garden. After that, the three men sat outside, having a beer and chatting amiably. Aidan could only sigh as soon as Dean got his camera out, although he could have guessed that his dear boyfriend would do just that. The Irishman leaned towards Luke, who just put on his plaid shirt due to the cool breeze, asking, “Hasn’t he taken enough pictures during the two weeks?” Luke chuckled, “I’d say about a million …” Aidan nodded knowingly whilst Dean only shouted, “You knew what you were getting yourself into when bringing me to the countryside of Cornwall, Turner!” before he laid himself flatly on the ground so he could capture whatever in the waves of the sea. “Heaven knows why I love you so much …” he muttered and Luke only toasted with his bottle towards him with a grin.

As Aidan had to take the train back to London on Sunday evening, both Dean and Luke had lined out to him what still needed to be done whilst he himself promised to show Maggie the pictures Dean had taken – on the one hand from the improvements of the cottage and on the other hand of the things from the storage room that they were able to save in order for her to tell what she wanted to keep during her next appointment on Monday – and inform them about her reply. Once on the train, Aidan sighed, happy to have spent a weekend with his boyfriend and on the other hand sad that it already was over again, Still, in about two weeks’ time, he would go there for his holidays and mind him, he was going to enjoy the hell out of it. And Luke would as well, as he had emphasized when he had bid Aidan goodbye at his inn. As he had phrased it, “As by then we are going to have the thing furnished, I will be able to sleep without headphones again.” Aidan had only winked while Dean blushed deep red.

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

Back in London, Aidan did follow his own advice and invited Adam over for dinner (which Adam insisted that he brought himself – Aidan would have been offended by his friends’ lack of trust in his cooking skills would he not be painfully aware of them himself) the following Tuesday where he told him about the cottage, first and foremost, but also let it slip a few times how grateful he was for what Adam had done for him. The interior designer had only swatted his hand at him with an “What should I have done? Wait if you would starve to death or freeze first?! It was January, Aidan!” but the Irishman saw that the other man was touched. It might have helped as well that Aidan praised his Quiche Lorraine, which really was excellent.

Going back to London also meant going back to work. Going back to work meant that he saw a very curious Maggie again, who immediately wanted to know about the state of the cottage. Aidan showed her the pictures; all she said was: “Still not Buckingham Palace but definitely an improvement.” The curly-haired man however noted, how she implicitly praised Dean’s ability to make such a transformation come true in the time-span of two weeks, granted with Luke’s help, which he could surely read as her saying: “Don’t lose this man, Aidan Turner!” After their first conversation, Aidan left the ipad, onto which he had loaded the pictures of the things in the storage room so Maggie could look through them better – all badassness aside, she was 93 – and made his round around the floor again. When he came around for the second time, Maggie had moved everything she wanted to keep into a separate folder. “You can ditch the rest, darling”, she had told Aidan with a fond pat on his hand. Efficiency, he liked that.

Going back to the hospital also meant that he thought about Richard again, whom he contacted Wednesday evening, which really was the first opportunity he got. That night however, the other man wasn’t feeling too great – which had Aidan alarmed immediately but the actor assured him, that he would be fine – but they set-up a meeting Friday evening as the following day, his brother would be visiting. Calmed down to a reasonable degree, Aidan spent Wednesday night skyping with Dean so he could update him on Maggie’s input considering the storage and being updated on the general progress of the renovation. Dean and Luke were looking for furniture, which had Aidan google second-hand stores in the area Thursday night, after which they skyped again. This time however with Luke as well, who knew the odd store here and there and surely was the most capable of them to determine which would be worth a visit. As soon as Aidan’s comments turned slightly more private, the Welshman raised his hands and retreated from the laptop: “I recognize a cue when I hear one …” he said jokingly at which the happy couple only laughed.

On Friday evening after his shift, Aidan set directly for Richard’s flat and as he trampled the stairs up to the top floor, he could already smell the tea. Richard too made really good tea. Aidan grinned and announced his presence with an “Is that Earl Grey I smell?” as he pushed the slightly ajar door open. “Indeed”, he heard that deep and rich voice from the kitchen, which cast a smile onto his face immediately. He closed the door and made his way into the living room, just as Richard carried a tray with two cups of tea, a kettle, milk and some sandwiches out. “What a service!” Aidan exclaimed joyfully and met Richard in a hug before he settled back onto the by then well-known sofa. “Well, I thought you could use that after another day at the hospital …” Richard said while he prepared their tea. Aidan grinned as he realized that the older man already knew how much milk he took. As Richard handed his cup over, Aidan sighed: “Ah! Definitely my favorite royal.” Richard chuckled in response and took a sip of his own tea.

“Richard, you look so much better”, Aidan announced joyfully once he had settled his tea onto the side table. And the other man did indeed. The color had moved back into his skin, his lips did not look as if made of paper anymore and even his hair that Richard had shaved off soon after his fourth therapy session grew back already. Of course, the dark blue slacks, the blue button down and the grey cardigan also contributed to the overall picture. Aidan realized that Richard actually made that whole academic look work for him. And the actor didn’t appear to be so downcast anymore either, even though the aftereffects of the therapy were still _there_. But the psychological component was nothing unusual; a lot of people suffered depression right after chemo therapy – more so if it had effects on your private life like it did in Richard’s case.

Richard smiled that shy smile of his again, “You think?”

The Irishman nodded emphatically, “Oh yes! Yes, I do. You almost look human again …” Aidan winked and Richard chuckled, “What a compliment …”

Aidan grew slightly more serious at that one, “It is. It takes a lot of people way longer to recover, so: Well done, Mr. Armitage.”

Richard smiled and took another sip of his tea and offered one of the sandwiches to Aidan. The curly-haired man briefly wondered if Richard had made them himself. Somehow, he thought that the other man actually did. “So …” Richard opened, “You told me you went to Cornwall for the last weekend. How was it?”

“Um”, Aidan quickly swallowed, “Yes. It was really great. We planned on going there on holiday and got the keys to a cottage from another patient of the hospital. But … well, it was shit. A total dump!” Richard snorted into his tea and Aidan raised his eyebrows, “If you had seen its initial state, you would know that I am right. It was terrible. Holes in the roof, no windows, and hedgehogs! Richard, I’m telling you, there was one evil hedgehog in there who wouldn’t have let us stay.” Now Richard laughed openly and Aidan grinned at the sound. It had increased along with Richard’s health. “So you make it a hobby to make acquaintances at the hospital, I see.”

Aidan smirked, “Only profitable ones …” he said and raised his sandwich. Richard laughed again.

The Irishman continued, “Anyway, Dean went down there and started repairing the damn thing with help from a local innkeeper. And they made _some_ progress, I’m telling you. So when I’m going down there next week, a few things will still need to be taken care of, but generally, we can live there without being exposed to the horrors of hedgehogs and who knows what other creatures the two had found in there …” Aidan shuddered. “So yeah, last weekend was good.”

Richard smiled, “That’s good to hear. How long are you going to stay?”

“Haha”, Aidan waved his finger triumphantly in the air, “That’s the good news I got today. Occasionally, they do exist …”

Richard chuckled again, “So I’ve heard.”

Aidan scooted over onto the sofa to grab another sandwich and took a bite before he continued, “You see, originally, there were only ten days of vacation planned. Then, I could stretch it for two weeks but now, _now_ , one of the kids of another help got ill – which is terrible, don’t get me wrong – BUT: They cannot go on their planned holiday and in return, they offered me to take some more. So I have to talk to Dean tonight, but I can stretch it to three, maybe even four weeks. Isn’t that awesome?” Aidan beamed and Richard nodded, “Despite the sick child …”

Aidan sighed dramatically, “You make me sound like the most horrible person on earth …”

Richard shook his head, “You are definitely not. Just look how well you’ve looked after me …” Aidan again waved his sandwich at Richard, “And you after me.”

Richard smiled again, “So, this Dean you’re spending your holiday with …” Aidan nodded, “Do you do that often?”

The Irishman chuckled, “Not as often as I’d like. See, he lives in New Zealand and only visits me during his summer break where he can work on most things from London as well. He’s a university assistant in Auckland”, Aidan rolled his eyes, “A _temporary_ one, he would correct me. But still.”

The actor nodded, “So he visits you often; that’s nice. I’m afraid I couldn’t maintain many friendships from … well, school days or the theatre …” Richard trailed off and looked onto his cup of tea in thought.

Aidan frowned. Was it really possible that he never mentioned Dean was his boyfriend? Strange. But he supposed that he didn’t broach the topic of him being in a happy relationship while Richard’s just blew up right in his face. Still he shook his head and answered, “Dean is my boyfriend, Richard.”

The other man looked up sharply at him for a few seconds. Aidan only raised his eyebrows in a questioning way and after what seemed like an eternity of confusion, Richard only offered an “Ah.” A little later an “Of course” followed.

Aidan’s frown deepened. Just before he wanted to ask what the silence of the other man meant, the thankfully metaphorical lightning struck: “OH JESUS CHRIST!” the Irishman exclaimed, “Richard, I’m so sorry!” His hands flew to his face and he was pretty sure he was blushing up to the roots of his curls. How could he have missed that? How on earth could he have missed the way in which Richard obviously interpreted his caring for him? He was so stupid … and – what did Adam always say? – self-centered! Never in a million years would he have thought that a guy like Richard could be interested in him.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the other man who looked as miserable as anyone could. Pretty sure he prayed for the sofa to swallow him up. Aidan cleared his throat and looked at the other man: “Richard, I am really, really, terribly sorry if I led you to believe …” The other man shook his head and finally looked up at Aidan, “You really did no such thing, I apologize for being presumptuous …”

Aidan waved his hands in the air, sending the sandwich flying onto the table, “Shit! Sorry … I – People always tell me that I’m being too open and everything and that could be misinterpreted easily. _Obviously_ , that’s true … It’s really me who must be apologizing Richard. I’m so, so sorry. Again.” Suddenly, Aidan was alarmingly aware of how his foot that he had folded up onto Richard’s sofa, rested against the actor’s thigh. He must have moved it there when he reached for the second sandwich. Aidan pulled it back with a quiet “Sorry!”

The actor only chuckled, albeit in a sad way, which made Aidan feel as if the other man had done so quite a few times before. And it broke the Irishman’s heart. Richard then continued, “No need to apologize. It was quite obviously me who misinterpreted everything … And I was being ridiculous here, let’s face it … You see, the few friends I _do have_ always tell me that I always take everything too seriously …”

Aidan frowned, “How do you mean?”

Richard rolled his eyes, “Come on! You being interested in a quite older, moody, sad, lonely, and, most of all, potentially still deathly sick actor is really beyond ridiculous …”

Aidan waved his hand again, “OKAY, NO! First of all: You said it yourself, the chemo worked wonders on your skin cells and it will have done the same on your cancer cells. I’m telling you!” Richard snorted and Aidan only then realized that he had apparently finally switched from seeing Richard as a patient – as with those, he never made claims like that, he never tried to make them feel better based on things he simply could not know for sure – to seeing him as a friend. “And secondly: I’ll have you know that if I wouldn’t be in a happy relationship right now, I’d totally date you.” At Richards disbelieving face Aidan scooted closer, “Richard, you are intelligent, funny, caring, you actually listen to people and their problems. You are a good person … and let’s not forget that you look amazing. Even without the hair!” Richard wrinkled his forehead disbelievingly but Aidan thankfully found the hint of a smile playing around the other man’s lips. “Seriously! And let’s not start on your voice … Your voice is great, so … intense. Good-intense, don’t worry”, Aidan added quickly. Now Richard smiled openly and shook his head, “If you say so …”

“I know so!” Aidan emphasized and decided to add “If anything, I’m surprised that someone as accomplished, a theater actor, for Christ’s sake, would be interested in me” for good measure.

Both men smiled almost shyly at each other before Richard sighed and said, “Well, that evening turned out differently than expected … for both of us.”

Aidan chuckled and finally moved to pick up the sandwich from the table. “Again, I’m really sorry Richard …” the other man only waved at him dismissively. “But …” Aidan said insecurely and wondered if the next thing that left his mouth was something terribly selfish, “… if you can imagine to … maintain our friendship, I’d really like that. Because you’re great Richard, seriously.”

The other man blinked up at him, “I’d like that too. Because you’re really great as well …”

Aidan smiled and hoped sincerely that Richard had not only agreed to this to make him feel better.

The first thing that Aidan did after he had left Richard’s flat at about quarter to nine was to call Dean. As the Kiwi picked up his mobile, Aidan opened without preamble: “Dean, I am a terrible, terrible person …”

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

“You couldn’t have known Aidan …” Dean said what felt for the millionth time to the Irishman himself, so it was a safe assumption that this number was about correct. By then, Aidan lay slumped on the sofa in his own flat, mobile still pressed to his ear and an equally desperate Dean on the other end of the line. The fact that his partner was by then just as desperate as he himself was underlined by the fact that about quarter of an hour ago, Dean had put Aidan on speaker and sought advice with Luke. Aidan could almost picture the scene in front of him – Dean and Luke, both bent over the phone that lay in the middle of the bar, Dean torn between ruffling his hair and rubbing his eyes and Luke rolling his eyes. He surely rolled his eyes.

“But DEAN …” Aidan scolded, waving his free hand in front of him as if the Kiwi could actually see him. “You should have seen how miserable he looked. And just as he finally looked human again. … OH MY GOD, I told him that he looked good!” Aidan exclaimed, only realizing in retrospect how easily it must have been to mistake his compliments as flirting.

“Aidan, you were just being nice.” Luke, the voice of reason. “What that man makes of your help inside his head is not up to you …”

Aidan sighed, “I know. Believe me, I know. But … Argh! Just as he finally seemed to get over this bloody Lee who dumped him because he couldn’t get it up _during chemo_ …” Aidan bit his lip, “I never said that, just so you two know.” He heard Luke chuckle and utter an “Of course not.”

“Listen”, Aidan tried to sum things up because he knew he was whining, “I know that technically, this is not my fault, but it still feels like it is. I mean, I don’t even know how it came that I never mentioned you Dean. I swear that I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“That’s what they all say …” Dean added jokingly but the Irishman only sighed, “Great. Now I feel horrible because of two different things …” Dean laughed and Luke finished, “Look Aid: All you can do now is that you give him the freedom of choice if he wants to pursue a friendship with you or not. Let him come to you, this time. So you have … you know, clarity. If he does not take up on the offer, you have to accept that it is still too painful for him. If he does, everything is good between the two of you. In which case you can bring him with you to Cornwall and introduce him to me. I could use a relationship that is not solely based on sex for a change …” As neither Dean nor Aidan said anything, Luke chuckled nervously: “That last part was a joke of course …”

“I KNEW IT!” Aidan exclaimed while Dean muttered, “Here we go …”

“What are you …” Luke started but Aidan interrupted him, “No, no. Not now, Evans. Dean, I _told_ you! Can you please acknowledge that I told you so right after our first meeting?”

Aidan heard Dean sigh, “Alright, alright. You gaydar is exceptional. Satisfied?”

“You mean you speculated about me being gay behind my back?” If anything, Luke sounded incredulous, “Why didn’t you just ask me?!”

“That would be rude …” Aidan said while Dean only snorted, “Are you serious right now?”

“Absolutely”, Aidan grinned into the phone, “So Luke: Share it with the group. What happened?”

The Welsh tried to deflect with an, “Absolutely not! I’m not going to be the topic of gossip … _again_ …” he added and Aidan heard his partner apologizing quietly. Aidan pretended he had not heard any of it, “Now now, Mr. Evans. It is in your power to rid me of my misery. Are you really that cruel to withhold that relief from me?”

“By wallowing in my own?” Luke asked but Aidan was almost sure he heard the faint trace of a smile in his voice. “Precisely. So, go on …” Aidan said and heard Dean add, “You do know that you can just hang up, right?”

Luke chuckled but nevertheless told them the tale of his own ex, who had indeed been a model who had a photoshoot in Wales at which the two met. It had all been really fun for a while but after about a year where both had been longer periods apart than together (Aidan and Dean only snorted at that one, while Luke added, “Apparently, you two are the exception.”), Luke changing into fancy clothes that he bought only for the occasions they actually did meet so he fit in with his ex’s crowd, feeling uncomfortable deep down all along, he had found out that his ex had regularly been cheating on him just because he could not go without sex. This had wounded Luke deeper than neither Aidan nor Dean could have imagined and since then, Luke had retreated into his little inn and hadn’t gotten out of Wales.

Once Luke had finished with that disappointing tale of his, Dean sighed into the phone: “Aidan, have I recently told you how lucky I consider myself that the two of us met?”

Aidan nodded furiously, only realizing after a few seconds that the others could not see him, “I was just about to say the same. Are there really only assholes out there at the moment …?”

“Hey!” Luke screamed in mock-offense and Aidan rolled his eyes – again realizing that nobody could see him: “Just so you know, I just rolled my eyes. Next time, we skype. Okay, Luke, of course we did not mean you. Nor did we mean Richard. Or Adam … anyhow: Maybe bringing Richard to Cornwall won’t be such a bad idea after all …”

“Jesus Christ, I was _joking_ Aidan!” Luke exclaimed dramatically.

Aidan however, started to smirk. “No really, I mean – given the fact that he does indeed contact me again, and that’s a _big_ if – it would only be beneficiary to his health. The fresh air, healthy food …”

“… the wild and unruly sea …” Dean added with a laugh and Aidan chuckled, “You are reading my mind, love. Luke, you are a genius!!!”

That was rewarded with a laud sigh from the innkeeper, “You know, today might be the first time that I actually start drinking during my shift …”

“I knew we’d have a bad influence on his poor soul Dean …” Aidan joked while his partner only said, “Oi! What do you mean with we …?!”

After a few more minutes, Aidan bid the two men goodbye and sank further into his sofa with a sigh. Not how he had thought his evening to go indeed …

 

Relief for Aidan came next Tuesday evening – “And not a minute too soon”, as Leonora had emphasized who had to put up with Aidan’s “ _mood_ ” as she had called it – in form of a call from Richard. Aidan sighed in relief before he straightened his back and answered the call, “Hey Richard!” he exclaimed cheerfully, “So good to hear from you! How are you?”

The Irishman heard the actor clear his throat, “Hello Aidan. I’m good, thanks. Listen … I – I wondered if you might meet down at a pub or something? You know, before you go on holiday …”

Aidan smiled, “Sure! I’d love to … Uh, anywhere in particular?”

Richard chuckled, “I hoped that you know a good place. The last time I have been out and about has been some time ago …”

The curly-haired man laughed out loudly, “Well, then I’d say it’s about time we change that, don’t you think? … Do you know _Durin’s Gold_? It’s not far, actually …” As Aidan blabbered on about directions, he already got into his boots. As Richard told him that he’d surely find his way, Aidan hung up and hurried down the stairs, only to arrive at the pub about fifteen minutes later. Once he pushed the dark oak door open, he was immediately greeted with the usual, hence comforting sight as well as the highly familiar smell of Graham’s pub. Behind the bar, as could be expected, stood the Scotsman who flung his dish towel in greeting. Once Aidan ventured towards the bar noting that the pub was rather crowded for a Tuesday night, he noticed Adam already sitting there with a glass of wine on front of him. “Adam!” Aidan exclaimed joyfully, throwing his arms around the other man from behind, “What on earth are you doing here except annoying our dear barkeeper?” It was a common, yet joking complaint of Graham that Adam forced him to store white wine “that no one except this snob drinks here anyway”. Naturally, everyone knew that Graham always ordered Chardonnay from Adam’s favorite winery especially for him – all because despite his almost frightening exterior, Graham was a gigantic teddy bear inside. This was why that without a word from Aidan, a Guinness was placed in front of him with a raised eyebrow from the scot. “He has had another terrible date …” was the only thing Graham said, after which Adam’s head hit the bar. “I am officially capitulating, Aidan. This is getting …” he threw up his hands, “… what am I talking about?! This has gotten way too ridiculous and painful too long ago. Stop. No more. Do you hear me?” Aidan laid his arm around Adam’s shoulder and started pulling him close, “Come on, tell Uncle Aidan what happened …” Then he took a sip of his beer and sighed happily.

“What happened?” Adam gave him a mocking glance, “What happened was that this … this … _guy_ …” Aidan wrinkled his nose at his mate’s tone of voice alone, “… couldn’t even wait until we had gotten out of the fucking restaurant …” Aidan raised his eyebrows. If Adam used the f-word in casual conversation, something was really, really wrong.

“… until he notified me subtly of his boner. And by subtly I mean that he simply pressed himself against my back when I was just about to walk out the door. I mean … What is wrong with these people? We weren’t even at a club, at which I might have let a behavior like that pass. But in a restaurant Aidan! Does that man not have any kind of decency? There were … dishes around! Food, Aidan.”

Aidan chuckled, “You could also see it the other way: He could not contain himself as soon as he laid eyes on your handsome form, my friend.”

Adam turned around with a frown worthy of the most dramatic opera diva, “Don’t think I do not notice when you are bullshitting me, Turner. And he might have simply taken … I don’t know, a whole pack of Viagra before he ventured into the restaurant.”

Aidan couldn’t help himself, he had to chuckle: “Well, then see it this way: You have escaped either impotency or a real douche. Either way, a win.”

Adam sighed, “Both might not be mutually exclusive, Aidan.”

Just as the Irishman let out a full-hearted laugh, a hand laid down on his shoulder and Aidan looked up at Richard. “Oh, hey Richard! Sorry I didn’t see you coming in …” He just prayed that the actor had not heard the statement about impotency.

Richard only waved at him and sat down at the bar. “Hello, I’m Richard”, he introduced himself to Adam and Aidan inwardly cursed. “Yeah right, social interaction and such. I have never been good at that. Richard, Adam, one of my dearest friends. Adam, Richard, the friend from the hospital I told you about.”

Both men shook hands and Richard added surprised, “Nice to meet you. I briefly thought you were … Dean.”

Adam frowned while Aidan started to chuckle, “See, that’s just how I am.” He removed the arm still lying around Adam’s shoulder and winked at Richard, “affectionate.”

“Clingy, others might call it”, Adam deadpanned and Richard chuckled before he ordered a glass of Pinot Noir himself. Graham raised an eyebrow accusingly, “Aidan, once and for all: You need to stop bringing those damn wine-people into my pub”, before he wandered off to retrieve a bottle of red from wherever he might find one. Richard looked taken aback, but Aidan simply clapped him on the back, “Don’t worry. If Graham insults you, it means he likes you.”

Richard still didn’t quite seem to believe him and eyed Graham, who placed the glass of wine in front of the actor quite suspiciously. “So”, Aidan clapped his hands, “I did not know that Adam would be here but it surely is a sign of heaven.”

Adam frowned, “Oh yeah, and why is that?”

“Because you two can bitch about shitty ex-boyfriends.” Richard whipped around in shock while Adam only raised his hand, “Not an ex. Thank God it hadn’t been that serious.”

About two hours later the pub had significantly cleared out, but the three men still stayed glued to the bar. Thankfully, Adam and Richard got along great, even though the actor had been a bit hesitant to open up at first but Adam had simply waved at him, “If you are going to befriend that guy over there, you better get used to the rest of us. At which I would be looking forward to immensely.” Richard frowned lightly as Adam raised his glass of wine, “Fellow wine-drinker. You can help to defend this excellent and sophisticated beverage to the other beer-drinking dilatants.” As Adam waved at Graham indicating his leave, Aidan laid his hand down on the other man’s arm. “You guys, I have an offer for you.” While Richard raised his eyebrows Adam only snorted, “One that we can’t refuse, I suppose…” Aidan rolled his eyes, “I’d need a cat for that, wouldn’t I?” The Irishman noticed Richard’s small chuckle with great fondness – he really had opened up in the last two hours, “What I wanted to say was that of course you can refuse my offer – well, my and Dean’s offer, actually – but you’d pay yourself for doing so.”

Adam rolled his eyes, “Because that doesn’t sound like the mafia at all …”

Aidan did not acknowledge that comment with a statement of his own, “We, being the generous people that you know – well, Adam knows about that better than Richard I suppose, but still – we have indeed succeeded in making that shithole – my dear apologies to Maggie – of a cottage into something liveable. As it has at least one guestroom that, behold, as of yesterday even has a bed, we’d like to invite the both of you to Cornwall”, Aidan out his trademark grin on while he plucked one of his unruly strands of hair back behind his ear, “If you should decide to visit at the same time, I’m sure we can book another room in an inn a dear and very capable Welshman runs so I’m certain that all should be to your liking.”

Richard, who seemed a bit taken aback, kindly let Adam speak first, “So you mean you can brag about Dean’s accomplishments …”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “Exactly. He’ll be too busy taking pictures anyhow …” at which Adam chuckled silently, faintly nodding. “No, I’m serious. Come. It’ll do you good, both of you.” Aidan made sure to very pointedly look at the actor on his left during that last sentence.

Adam shrugged while he drowned the last drop of his wine, “I’m sure I can take some time off work …”

The Irishman grinned, “Yeah, comes in handy to be your own boss …” Aidan briefly explained to Richard that their friend was in interior designer, only to have Adam intercept Aidan’s rant about how easy he had it jobwise: “I’ll have you know that it is not always sunshine and rainbows, dearest Aidan, as I have to attract enough clients on my own, try to fulfill their every wish, no matter how absurd they are and, on top of it all, finish everything in time. Piece of cake, every time …” Richard chuckled at that and Aidan only shook his head. “Yeah, so you’ll come. Great! Richard?!”

Aidan noticed how quickly the actor cast his eyes down onto the glass of wine in his hand. “Ah, I - …”

Thankfully, Adam at once got to his help, “Come on Richard! If I can put up with those love-sick idiots …” which earned an indignant “HEY!” from Aidan, “… you can as well. At least we can stick together and commiserate.” Richard smiled and shook his head at that. Mixed signals, great!

Finally he looked up at them, “I have the next check-up the next Friday. Maybe I could be persuaded then … Depending on, well, the result I guess …”

Aidan’s face split into a huge grin as he threw up his hands, “YAY! We’d love to have the two of you over …” deliberately not acknowledging the possibility that Richard’s test results would cause him to stay in London. Richard’s “We’ll see…” was counted as a definite win on the Irishman’s side and after the three of them had paid Graham the men exited the pub. Adam already hurried down to catch a cab that was parked at the side of the road, only shouting his goodbye to Aidan and Richard.

As both men set off in the same direction, Aidan started, “You survived us. Well, congratulations! But I always knew you were brave …”

The older man chuckled and looked sincerely over at Aidan, “I liked tonight. Really. As I said, I don’t have that many friends in London …”

“That is going to change”, Aidan announced triumphantly, “Sometimes, we can be a bit much, but …”

The actor shook his head, “Absolutely not. I can use a bit of getting out of my shell from time to time.”

Something deep inside Aidan cramped at that sincere confession of the other man and he slapped his shoulder in a friendly manner in return, “Hey, and sometimes we can use a bit of a coordinating party. Graham can’t be around all of the time, can he? So, it’s definitely a win-win.”

Richard chuckled but the Irishman saw with great satisfaction that he nodded quietly. Then, Aidan took a deep breath, “I was really happy you called today, Richard. Seriously. And … I hope the invitation- that I sincerely hope you’ll take, by the way – was not too much. I just … I don’t know, I thought that you could use a bit of a change of scenery and …”

The taller man stopped Aidan gently with a hand on the shoulder, which caused the curly-haired man to look up. He was greeted with eyes so full of emotion that Aidan couldn’t even settle on deciphering a single one, “Absolutely not. I … I like you Aidan. You were there for me when no one else was, well, except my parents and my brother. So even though I was living through one of the most terrible things of my life I got something out of it. And I will not let that slip away. So thank you. And I would very much like being your – your and Dean’s friend, of course.”

Aidan found himself speechless and needless to say, that did not happen often. So he simply met Richard in an enthusiastic hug which caught the other man by surprise. After quite a few seconds, Aidan let go after he had clapped Richard on the back once more. “I better get to my flat now”, he said pointing into the according direction, “… for if I’d stay longer, I might actually start to cry. Seriously Richard, that was one of the most beautiful things somebody ever said to me. And for once, I am not kidding.” Aidan noticed the small blush that started to spread on Richard’s cheeks. “Get home safe …” Richard mumbled and Aidan grinned up at him, “I will. Good night!”

Just as Richard had ventured into the direction of his own flat after a “Good night” on his side, Aidan whipped around: “Richard?!”

The actor snapped his head around and Aidan bit his lip, “You’ll call me, right? When you have the results?”

The older man smiled slightly and nodded, “Of course I will.”

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

The night that Aidan arrived in Cornwall, he would have loved to claim that, after a very romantic dinner, he and Dean had mind-blowing sex for at least three hours before they both fell asleep in each others’ arms, buried beneath the newly purchased, soft sheets in their new bed. What did actually happen was that he got off the train after a ten hour shift like a zombie, miraculously stayed awake during the ride in Luke’s borrowed car to their cottage and fell asleep as soon as he could throw himself onto the bed. He did feel that the sheets were soft though. They really were.

Aidan woke up the next morning, the sun already climbing high up in the sky, feeling terrible. Not physically, but because he had fallen asleep like he had. He had been sure that Dean actually had something planned and he simply collapsed onto the bed. Aidan frowned. How had he gotten rid of his jeans? He was pretty sure he hadn’t done that himself. So, Dean. The Irishman sighed and threw his head back against the awesomely soft pillows. A few moments later, he took a deep breath and got out of bed, his eyes wandering around in the bright bedroom. It really was beautiful. Fresh white paint on the walls, a light brown wooden table with two chairs, light blue curtains, cushions with the same covers, he realized and even a potted plant in the right corner before the bed. Aidan was more than impressed.

He only looked vaguely into the other rooms as he did not want to rid Dean of his privilege to show him one room after another and explain what he and Luke had done. Aidan knew how much Dean liked to do that during his exhibitions and so, he only looked if he could locate his partner somewhere. Which he couldn’t. Once in the kitchen though – an amazingly furnished one – stood a huge mug on one of the freshly polished wooden counters and a pot of coffee brewing in the coffee machine. The Irishman, smiling to himself, padded over, filled the mug and then wandered outside because he was pretty sure that he would find Dean in the garden. A few minutes later, he was proven right as he heard Dean chuckling from behind the cottage. Rounding the old stone walls, he found his partner and Luke sitting on the two deck chairs, coffee in their hands and joking about something. Aidan briefly considered going back in and putting on some pants, but then he decided that such an action would not be necessary. The innkeeper had heard them having sex already so why bother?

“Getting cozy with another man I see?” Aidan hollered while he was walking over to the two of them.

The heads of both men snapped over to him, Dean squinting at the sun, Luke wearing sunglasses. “That happens when your partner passes out on you the second he enters your cottage”, Dean teased and Aidan rolled his eyes before he clapped Luke on the back and slumped down on the deck chair next to the Kiwi. “Good morning sunshine”, Dean smirked. The dark-haired man only grinned up at him and pecked his lips. “Morning. And sorry. About yesterday …”

While taking a huge sip of his coffee, sighing in pleasure as the caffeine worked its way into his body, Dean’s arm snuck around his waist. “Yeah, yeah. You gotta make it up to me somehow, you know …”

“Hm … what do you have in mind?” Aidan smirked while Luke cleared his throat: “Seriously? Can’t you wait until I’m gone again?”

“Why? I was under the impression that you have already witnessed the most crucial parts …” Aidan teased while he could practically feel Dean’s eye-roll next to him. Luke only snorted into his own cup of coffee: “Don’t remind me …”

Aidan felt Dean’s head drop onto his shoulder in silent surrender, while he himself finally felt the full effect of caffeine kick in: “My dear Luke, I have great news!” After an “Oh?” from the other man, Aidan straightened on his deck chair, the sun pleasantly warm on his stiff back: “So the other night, I was meeting with Adam and Richard in our favorite pub and … Both promised to come. Well, Adam did. Richard said he would wait for his test results to arrive and he would get back to me. But I’m carefully optimistic. And if he refuses, I’ll talk him into it … I have the ability to do that, believe me.”

Dean groaned beside him, “Oh yes, he does. Unfortunately.”

“Oi, what does that mean?” Aidan asked flabbergasted, at which the Kiwi only raised his eyebrows, “Do I really need to remind you of the time you thought it would be a good idea to jump into the _canale_ in Venice? Naked?!”

“Oh JESUS!” Luke groaned, shaking with laughter not a second later.

Aidan huffed in defense, “It was a good idea – at the time. It was fun. Who can say they bathed naked in the _canale_?”

“Bathed?” Luke asked with raised eyebrows that were visible even over his sunglasses. “Isn’t that one of the dirtiest waters you could set foot in?”

Aidan already wanted to protest but Dean was quicker, “It was not only the dirtiest, but also by far the most difficult swimming option to come out of again…”

“In my defense, you also saw that the water level was pretty low …” Aidan bickered but Dean simply rolled his eyes while Luke snickered. “Seriously, despite it involved to two of you being filthy and naked, I would have liked to see that.”

“What do you mean despite? These are the exact selling points of this story …” Aidan joked while Dean groaned again, although the caress of the Irishman’s side by his partner’s hand indicated that he did not think their adventure to be as horrible as he let on.

“God help us all …” Luke chuckled and Aidan grinned at the other man before he picked up his original train of thought again: “As I was saying before: Adam and Richard are probably both coming. So if the two of them would arrive at the same time, we’d need to book a room in your inn, Luke dear.”

“So now you’re flirting with other men, Great!” Dean chuckled and Aidan rolled his eyes, “I am trying to flatter him so we get a special discount of the room, Dean.”

Luke snorted, “You mean despite me helping you rebuild the cottage …” that was only met with Aidan’s “Precisely.”

“You don’t think that one could take our guest room and the other could sleep on the couch?” Dean asked but Aidan shook his head. “No way. Adam would complain endlessly about the couch – you _know_ him – and Richard is way too tall.” Dean raised his eyebrows questioningly, but Aidan insisted, “Seriously. You’ve never seen him, he’s practically a giant Dean. He’d need to curl up like a cat or something …” Dean snickered.

“Now that won’t be necessary”, Luke interjected, “I still have one or the other room available, practically all summer. So don’t worry. Still, if you know when you need a room, tell me so I can make sure it stays available.”

“Will do Luke, thanks”, Aidan grinned. “And honestly, it would serve the purpose of getting you and Richard … well, closer, just fine if he stayed at your inn.” The Irishman wiggled his eyebrows while Luke groaned, “It was a joke, for crying out loud! You make one of those and never live it down.”

Dean chuckled, “Yep, that’s just how my dear Aidan is …”

The curly-haired man huffed, “Well, thank you dear”, he said mockingly, “No, I just thought that inviting Richard made sense. I mean, he could do with a change of scenery. And if … do you hear me Luke, IF something more comes out of it, it wouldn’t hurt either you or him, would it?” Luke shrugged, somehow showing an insecurity Aidan to this day had never witnessed. “Oh for Christ’s sake, I wouldn’t have locked the two of you in a broom cabinet, Luke!” Aidan exclaimed while Dean chuckled, “He’d only do that as a very last resort.” Aidan swatted Dean on the back of his head. “That’s it. No sex today either.”

Dean only smirked in response, “I’ll remind you in an hour or two …”

“Aaaand that is my cue”, Luke rose and placed his coffee mug on the table next to his deck chair. “Seriously, I’ve got to go and make sure that there is something presentable for lunch today. But I guess I’ll see you soon?”

“Sure Luke”, Dean smiled up at him, “And thanks for letting me borrow your car!” The Welshman only waved at them as he made his way towards the front of the cottage where his jeep was parked.

As Aidan heard the engine start, he turned towards Dean, stroking a hand through the blonde locks of his partner, “Hi.”

“Hey.” Dean smiled. “You’re here.”

“I’m here”, Aidan confirmed, “Finally.”

“’T was about time …” Dean growled and Aidan smiled before he gently placed his lips on his boyfriends’. “Mhm”, Aidan murmured and both men met again in a kiss, lips moving knowingly against each other. Aidan bit the photographer’s lip lightly, just as Dean’s hand traveled underneath the Irishman’s shirt. “I’ve missed you …” Aidan breathed and Dean let his tongue run along Aidan’s lower lip playfully. “I’ve missed you too.” As after a few more minutes of gentle teasing Dean’s tongue finally slipped beneath Aidan’s lips, both men sighed happily. Being drawn closer by his partner’s hands on his waist, Aidan thought that this right there was happiness: Kissing your partner on a deck chair in Cornwall, light morning sun on their backs. He didn’t need anything more than that in his life.

This perspective changed slightly as both men had finished the tour through the cottage that Aidan knew Dean liked to give in their bedroom, where Aidan crowded his partner against the spotlessly white wall, kissing him longingly. “You have done a very fine job here, Mr. O’Gorman. Maybe you should look into becoming a restaurateur or something …”

The blonde chuckled, “And work together with Adam you mean …”

Aidan started placing small kisses down the neck of his partner, “Hmmmm, not a bad idea at all…” The Irishman pressed himself flush against the other man, who snorted playfully: “Didn’t you say that there’ll be no sex today like … Ah! … minutes ago?”

Aidan chuckled, “Obviously that was to get rid of Luke …” which earned him another snort and an “Obviously.”

As Dean was moving on top of Aidan not long after that, Aidan groaned loudly: “Oh yes! … Yes! Sex. … Good idea …. OH FUCK! … Very good idea …” The Irishman’s hands went straight for the muscular thighs of his lover, caressing the skin that showed how hard the muscles underneath worked. “Oh my GOD, DEAN!” the younger man exclaimed once the other man squeezed his erection lightly with his muscles.

The blonde, starting to show a sheen of sweat, threw his head back and moaned low in his throat: “Aid babe …” he started and through his lust filled brain, he wasn’t quite sure what his partner was begging him for. Taking a few panting breaths himself, Aidan told himself to focus: “What, Dean? Tell me what … ooohh … what you need.”

Dean however only shook his head and frowned, biting his lip. Just as Aidan wanted to inquire further, at least as eloquently as one could muster when being buried balls-deep in the delicious heat of one’s lover, Dean’s hand flew to his own erection, standing proud and leaking against his muscular belly and after only a single stroke he came with a low grunt all over his own hand and as well as Aidan’s stomach. Aidan hissed, almost coming from the sensation of Dean clenching alone. Just as he wanted to thrust his hips up once more, Dean other hand flew to his chest and pressed him down. Aidan only managed to mutter a moany “Wha…?” before Dean cried out, pressing himself down even further – if possible – onto the dark-haired man’s groin. “Fuck. AIDAN!” The Irishman frowned. He saw Dean’s eyes rolling to the back of his head while the same stuttered, “Com-AH! Coming again … AID, fucking HELL!” And if the sounds and accompanying visual wouldn’t have been enough to send Aidan over the edge as well, the second load of cum hitting his torso did. He groaned out loudly himself, pressing his head back into the fluffy cushions, body stilling in pleasure. Somewhere during the ripples that went through his body he vaguely realized that something hit him in the chest. Only after catching his breath himself he realized that Dean had unsurprisingly slumped against him and wasn’t moving a single muscle. Aidan smiled lazily, running his arms over his lover’s back. “Holy shit! That was fucking hot …” he whispered happily. After the blonde did not move in the next few minutes, Aidan tapped his shoulder lightly: “You okay down there?” This was only met with a muffled, “Hmpf!”

After giving Dean a few more minutes to recover, Aidan sighed: “Dean, love, you are crushing me …” No reaction. “Honey, I love you, but you gotta move at some point…” A slight puff of hot breath against his chest. Aidan smirked, “I mean, currently you do reside in two loads of cum …”

Dean groaned, lifting himself up on both arms, carefully pulling off Aidan’s still half-hard cock, flopping down on the bed next to his lover. “If there ever was something as mood-kill Aidan … I swear to God!” Dean groaned. Aidan laughed, rolling over so he was facing the blonde, running his hand caringly over his side, placing small kisses on the sweaty temple. “You need anything?” Aidan asked in earnest, assuming the other man was sore, oversensitive, sticky, sweaty and not in the mood to do anything about either. Dean shook his head slightly: “After I’ve managed to pull myself together and get up, _you_ are going to change the sheets …”

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

The call came about a week into Aidan’s vacation. He was just shouting out to Dean if he also wanted a glass of lemonade that Luke had brought them yesterday as the blonde had collapsed in one of the deck chairs in front of their cottage after a four-hour walk alongside the cliffs that, needless to say, caused more than one photographic orgasm on Dean’s part, when he heard his mobile ring. Aidan hurried over to the small table in the living area and picked it up without looking at the display: “Hello, you have reached the Turner-O’Gorman residence, how may I help you?” From outside, Dean shouted “O’Gorman-Turner, you heathen!” Aidan chuckled but got quite serious after a rather quiet: “Aidan?”

“Richard!” Aidan exclaimed, immediately alerted. He had often thought about giving the other man a call himself during the last week, but as he had promised to tell him as soon as there were news, he did not want to intensify the surely nerve-wrecking wait by his stupid remarks. “So good to hear from you, how are you?”

A quiet chuckle resonated from the other end of the line and Aidan practically saw Richard averting his eyes: “The million-dollar question, isn’t it?”

Aidan sighed, barely realizing as his own heartrate picked up: “Okay, I was aiming for lighthearted but if you wanna go all serious, fine with me: Drop it on me, I’m prepared. Are you … good?” Aidan did not know if the silence on the other end of the line really stretched as long as it felt, but as soon as he heard Richard take in a steady breath, he sat down on the table to steady himself. This could not be a positive sign …

“I’m good Aidan.”

“What?!” the Irishman exclaimed.

Richard chuckled, “I am really, really good. No more cancer cells.”

Aidan sighed in relief, shouting a “You bastard!” into the phone before he started chuckling himself. Richard laughed out as well before he replied, “Actor, remember!”

Aidan let his head fall down with relief and took a deep breath, “Well, congrats Mr. Armitage. I believe those are more than in order …”

“Thank you Aidan. I think I am going to have a small celebration, I’m telling you …”

“And you deserve one, that is for sure!” Aidan exclaimed joyfully, “With whom? Did your brother come to London?”

“Uh …” Richard stuttered, “No, he’s … He’s on vacation himself. With his wife and kids. I thought more about me drinking a really good bottle of red all by myself … Sad huh?”

Aidan’s heart clenched. It really was sad. Not because Richard rather stayed in than going out clubbing or something – which Aidan couldn’t really imagine the serious actor doing anyway – but because he had nobody to celebrate with. Still, he couldn’t say that to a newly healed cancer patient, could he?

“Absolutely not. If anyone deserves drinking a whole bottle of wine – hell, five, if you want – than it’s you. The real celebration can only take place when you come down here anyway. You need to meet Dean … and Luke. He has a pub, very good for celebrating things. And! And maybe Adam’s coming as well. You can drink wine together. Lots of it. And accuse us of being beer-drinking ignorants”, Aidan babbled along at which Richard started to chuckle about midway. “Is that so?”

“Yes, yes. Absolutely! So, when?” Aidan wanted to know in that subtle way of his.

He heard the actor exhale: “I was thinking maybe next week? Wednesday?”

Aidan beamed, “You serious?”

“What, you thought I’d pass?” Richard asked in mock-offense.

Aidan chuckled, “Honestly? I wasn’t sure … But you prove me wrong anytime! Let us know when your train arrives, so we can come and pick you up. You need anything? You know, special?” Aidan applauded himself that he thought about precautions in all his excitement.

“No, thank you. I’ll bring everything I need. And”, Richard continued scolding, “… if anybody brings anything, it would be me. My mother would be horrified if I didn’t. So, what shall I pack?”

Aidan grinned, “Perfect gentleman I see. Well, just yourself. And sun blocker, because the thing is crazy down here. Maybe it’s also the salty air, I don’t know …”

Richard chuckled, “Duly noted. I’ll arrive in full-body armor then …”

The Irishman laughed, “You do that … I’ll look forward to your visit Richard, I really do. And congrats again, I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks Aidan”, Richard replied, affection clear in his voice, “That means a lot …”

“And now go start drinking wine. See you next week!” Aidan joked after which Richard bid him goodbye as well, asking him to extend his greetings to Dean.

 

Armed with two glasses of Luke’s lemonade, Aidan made his way out into their garden joyfully. Dean only raised his eyebrows, “Good news I gather?”

“Very good news!” Aidan beamed, “Richard is cancer free. It’s official and he’s going to drown himself in wine now …”

Dean grinned, “Well then. If you let your long-term boyfriend wait for his refreshment in favor of talking to other attractive men, it may well be due to something good …”

Aidan snorted and handed Dean his glass of lemonade, “Said attractive man extends his greetings to you, by the way …” he sat down next to Dean, the blonde immediately settling with his back to the Irishman’s chest. “Perfect gentleman, as you said …” Aidan flipped Dean lightly on the shoulder, “Were you eavesdropping, O’Gorman?”

“’Course I was …” the Kiwi replied and Aidan tsked in mock-offense. “Naughty boy …”

Dean huffed, “And here I was, thinking that you liked that part of me …”

Aidan snorted, “I do. Although I might need a little reminder of just how naughty you are …”

“Hmmmm, later …” Dean hummed, taking another sip of his lemonade.

Aidan nodded, “Good idea. I need to call Adam anyway and ask if he’ll come down at the same time as Richard …”

“So you can book a room with Luke …” Dean concluded and Aidan smirked, “Not only naughty but also clever. I think I like that combination, honey.”

 

Aidan’s masterplan was however destroyed by Adam – well, one of Adam’s client, to be precise, who wanted his living room finished until the end of the month and Adam was practically freaking out due to the workload. He would call them once he was done and inform them if he could take a few days off to visit his friends. Not being able to come up with a good and believable reason why Richard couldn’t stay with them (“Aidan, I am pretty sure if you tell him the judgmental hedgehogs are back, he would like to see them for himself …”)  it seemed that it would be Richard who would stay in their guestroom. Not that Aidan minded. They would simply be introducing him to Luke one evening in the pub. “Maybe it’s even better that way …” Aidan mused, “… more mysterious.” Dean had only chuckled, shook his head and kissed him on the cheek. Aidan couldn’t help but feel as if it was a pity-kiss.

The following Wednesday, Richard texted them the time his train was expected to arrive and both, Aidan and Dean walked over to Luke’s inn and asked if they could borrow his car. Their friend only shrugged, “You think I’m going anywhere except back and forth behind the bar? Go ahead, take it …” Aidan beamed up at him: “Thanks Luke. You’re a saint! We’ll bring the car back tomorrow … as well as a very healthy and very handsome actor.” The Welshman only rolled his eyes and threw his dishtowel at them. “Out now before I change my mind about the car …” Aidan scrambled out of the by then rather empty inn, grinning.

At about five in the afternoon, Aidan found himself on the platform of the town’s railway station, rocking back and forth on his heels in happy anticipation. As the attendant announced that the train from London would be late about ten minutes, Aidan groaned. In fact, it was twelve minutes that the blasted thing was late, but once it rolled into the station, Aidan replaced the frown on his face with a smile. Said smile only grew once he saw the actor get off the train which, in all fairness, wasn’t that hard considering the man’s height as well as the not overwhelming amount of people on the platform. The Irishman waved, earning a smile from Richard once the actor had spotted him, and as Aidan went over, both men met in a hug. “I am so happy you are here!” Aidan exclaimed against Richard’s shoulder. As they pulled back, Richard smiled, a real, toothy smile: “I am happy you invited me …” Aidan beamed and pushed a strand of hair back behind his ear, “Of course. Come on…” the Irishman pointed towards Richard’s suitcase, only then noticing how relaxed the other man looked, “Let me take that and let’s move to the car …” Richard only reluctantly let Aidan pull his trolley along, but Aidan would hear none of it: “You carry your bag, that should be enough …”

Once they’ve left the train station behind, Aidan pointed towards the blue jeep, “Over there. A friend of ours, Luke, let us borrow it.” Richard nodded, “The innkeeper …” Aidan turned to the other man with a smile, “So you actually listen to my ramblings, very impressive!” Richard chuckled, “Doing my best.” Both men shared a laugh and just as they reached the car, Dean, who waited in the jeep for the unlikely occasion they would get a ticket for parking right in front of the station, got out. Removing his sunglasses, he extended his hand towards the actor. “Richard, I presume … Hi, I’m Dean.” Richard nodded, shaking the offered hand, “Hello Dean, it’s a pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you …” Dean rolled his eyes, “Coming from that guy over there I’m not sure that’s a good thing.” Richard smiled and Dean let go of the actor’s hand, “But I’ve heard a few things about you myself and let me tell you right away: I’m really happy that you are able to visit us … healthy.” The actor averted his eyes, “Thank you …” Dean smiled, all dimples, “So, you give me that bag and get in the car. We need to get to the cottage and do our best to attack the amounts of food and drinks Aidan has prepared …” The Irishman noticed Richard blushing. Cute. “Thank you”, Richard repeated as Dean took his bag and ventured towards the back of the car. Aidan followed with the suitcase and as Dean was sure that Richard climbed onto the backseat of the car, Dean whispered “That _voice_!” in awe. Aidan grinned and mouthed back: “I know, right?”

Once in the car and on their way, Aidan babbled along again: “It’s not far, just … we thought that it would be better to drive with the suitcases and everything.” Richard smiled at him from the backseat, “Very thoughtful.” Aidan grinned, “You look so good, Richard … Doesn’t he look good?” A rhethorical question in the general direction of Dean, “And the little vacation will even help, you know, with the sun and everything. I swear, Dean and Luke have worked wonders on the cottage, you’ll see … I hope it’s okay but we thought as you arrive first – Adam’s still staying in London for a bit –you could take our guestroom. If that’s not okay there’s still the possibility to book you a room in the inn …”

“Jesus Christ Aidan, give the man a break! He can’t even answer you … I’m sorry Richard, when he’s excited he talks like a chipmunk on speed.” Dean told their guest while looking in the rearview mirror. Aidan bit his lip –after smacking Dean on the shoulder for the chipmunk-comment though. He was getting a bit overexcited there, his partner had a point.

Richard chuckled, “I’m sure the room in the cottage is fine. If I’m not intruding, that is … otherwise I happily stay at the inn.”

Dean snorted, “Are you kidding me? That one over there was talking about nothing else for weeks.”

Richard chuckled nervously and blushed shyly. Aidan rolled his eyes, “Dean is, as always, exaggerating. I was not talking about your stay for _weeks_. Hours maybe – days at most.” Richard chuckled and shook his head. “Let’s say we’re both very happy that you are here”, Dean stated diplomatically, “And more so if you stay in the cottage with us so you can help me get a hold on this overexcited puppy.” Aidan rolled his eyes, “You make me sound so terrible – he’ll leave again if you don’t stop, I’m telling you!”

After a little more bickering between the two of them and the occasional chuckle from Richard alongside some promises that he would be fine, despite their old-married couple antics the three men arrived at the cottage.  While Aidan showed Richard at first the room he’d be staying in, the other man more than grateful, before he showed the actor around the cottage. Dean excused himself with an: “I’m going to prepare some of Aidan’s food and pretend it was me who cooked …” After the dark-haired man had shown their guest around the cottage, he told Richard to go and sit in one of the deck chairs in their garden while he brought him a beer. Sneaking back into the kitchen, retrieving three bottles of beer from their fridge, he handed one to Dean. “Thanks love”, the blonde replied in a way too domestic tone to be serious but Aidan pecked him on the cheek just the same. “And?” he asked.

Dean turned around and smiled at Aidan, “I like him …” The Irishman smiled as Dean continued, “I mean, you haven’t given him the possibility to talk so much, but once he is allowed the luxury, I’m sure my opinion with solidify …” Aidan bit his earlobe playfully. “Yeah, he is a bit shy at first but … he’ll come around. You’ll see.” Dean smirked, “I doubtlessly will. No go out before our guest – my God, how grown-up that sounds – our _guest_ sends out a search party.”

Aidan saluted and hurried outside to Richard. “There you go …” he said as he handed Richard the cool bottle, who accepted it with a quiet “Thank you.” Aidan opened his own, he toasted to the actor, “To your health and your decision to brave the two of us and stay for a bit …” Richard laughed and clinked his bottle against Aidan’s, “What else can I do than drink to that?” Aidan chuckled, “Nothing, you have no choice whatsoever.” Both men smiled at each other and took a sip of beer whilst looking out onto the waves.

After a few moments of companionable silence, Richard started to chuckle, “I cannot believe you have a cottage on a cliff, overlooking the sea. It’s insane!”

Aidan laughed out loudly as well, “Technically, we don’t own it but … yeah, it’s pretty cool. I think it was the place of the cottage that made Dean do all the work. You know, if it stood in some sort of … I don’t know, crappy surroundings with houses everywhere and not an inch of garden or something, he probably wouldn’t have invested as much time in it.” Richard nodded, “And: I wouldn’t have let him spend so much time away from me, being the selfish man that I am.”

That had the other man chuckle before he turned serious again, “I cannot image how you do it. I mean, spending months and months apart …”

Aidan shrugged, “We stopped asking ourselves that question about two years after we started dating. We realized that it worked … and who are we to question that? We were and still are just happy that it did. Sometimes we think that not seeing each other is the reason why it works so well, you know. Because if we do, we tend to make most of the time we have. … But yeah, it’s surely not the right thing for everybody …”

Richard snorted and took another sip of his beer, “And don’t I know about that …”

The Irishman bit his lip, “I didn’t mean … Shit! I didn’t want to remind you …” But Richard cut him off midway: “Don’t worry, you didn’t. And it’s fine. Now, it really is fine. It’s better to know now that something doesn’t work out than three years from now.”

Aidan nodded, “You sure have a point there but still … I’m sure it wasn’t easy. I mean, no offense, but I was there some of the time and I know it wasn’t easy …”

Richard smiled over at him, “No it wasn’t. But it was people like you who made it bearable. And I have quite some re-structuring of my life choices to do anyway, so it isn’t as bad as it could be, I suppose.” At Aidan’s frown, Richard continued, “Nothing too bad. But yeah, Lee is out of the picture. Then, I realized during the time at the hospital that I have focused way too much on my work. Sure, I love what I do, I really do, but only focusing at work leaves you lonely at home … or at the hospital, as I have realized. So I want to change things there, get out a little, you know.” Aidan smiled at that. “Not that I want to throw myself head over heels into the next relationship, far from that, but to meet people. Make friends. Go on holiday …” Richard gestured around himself, “… because as I have had the previous months to realize, life is too short to spend it entirely devoted to your job.” The Irishman raised his bottle. “I’ll drink to that!” And just then, Dean shouted from their kitchen window that dinner was ready.

 

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

After a day of showing Richard around the little town and the cliffs, the evening had them drive to the pub. Despite Dean’s seemingly constantly raised eyebrow, Aidan was in a great mood as the three of them entered the by then rather crowded establishment. Still, they were lucky and got a seat at the bar, both Aidan and Dean waving at Luke once he looked their way. After the amazingly short amount of time it took the Welshman to make his way over to them – despite having numerous orders shouted his way that he tended to immediately – Dean smiled at him: “Hey Luke. We left your car at the parking lot in the back …” Luke thanked them and then fixed his eyes on Richard, who sat to Aidan’s left: “So, you must be ne guest of honor then …”

Richard, predictably, blushed: “It seems that news travels fast around here …”

Luke smiled at him, “You have no idea. Hi, I’m Luke …” he said and offered his hand in greeting over the bar. Richard cast his eyes between Luke’s face and his hand while he took the same in a firm handshake. “Richard. But you knew that, didn’t you?” Luke chuckled and threw his dishtowel over his left shoulder. Aidan smirked which earned him a slip on his upper leg by Dean that went unnoticed by the other two men, who were still looking awkwardly at each other. Luke cleared his throat before he replied to Richard’s rather rhethorical question: “I did. What I don’t know is what you’d like to drink.”

“In how much trouble would I get if I ordered red wine?” Richard asked tentatively.

Luke raised his eyebrows and grinned, “Loads. But I will do my best and try to slip you the glass unnoticed.”

Richard chuckled and nodded in agreement. Turning towards Aidan and Dean Luke only asked if they took their usual beer. Aidan nodded, “Yep. And if Richard gets in trouble for ordering wine, you just have to protect him …” Dean besides him groaned but the Irishman thought that maybe due to the level of noise in the pub, Richard hadn’t heard. Luke however raised his eyebrow at him, “I don’t think that a man his size needs my protection, Aid.”

Again, Richard blushed but Aidan only chuckled. Admittedly, Luke did not have much time for them during their stay at the pub – but they’d known that beforehand. Nobody knew why but Thursdays were always the busiest at the inn. Still, the three of them spent a very pleasant evening, with Luke dropping by every now and then, refilling their glasses – albeit Richard switched to some lemonade after his second glass due to the aftereffects of his chemo – before they left at around eleven. Not without Luke promising to visit them the next day for a late breakfast, though. Aidan’s eyes had a mischievous gleam to them as he invited the innkeeper and Dean as well as Luke rolled their eyes. Still, Luke agreed and promised to be at their cottage at around ten. Satisfied, the three men ventured towards the cottage, Dean sometimes pulling a slightly tipsy Aidan back to his side, which had Richard chuckling quietly. Aidan however argued vehemently that he was simply making sure if the other two stayed alert. “Of course you do, love …” Dean grinned and placed a kiss on his partner’s temple while Richard only smiled to himself.

 

After Luke had arrived for breakfast the next day and the four of them sat in the morning sun in front of their cottage and had a lazy start, Dean suggested that Luke could take walk with Richard around the forest as they hadn’t gotten to do the same themselves. As Aidan watched both men walking away from their cottage, Richard in a sweater he had gotten himself before as he still got cold quite frequently, the curly-haired man smirked: “You’re on my side now, O’Gorman?” Dean only raised his eyebrows. “To get the two of them together … by sending them off into the woods. Quite obvious though, I have to say …” Aidan clarified. Dean however only rolled his eyes. “I did no such thing …” As the Irishman only waved into the direction both men had vanished to, Dean clarified: “I sent them away because I want to have sex with my boyfriend … which is not a nice thing to do while a guy whose last relationship had ended due to performance issues is trying to sleep next door.” Aidan grinned into the kiss Dean was sharing with him, “Very considerate Dean, very considerate. And sneaky …”

By the time Richard and Luke returned from their walk, laughing and joking, Aidan and Dean were again sitting in front of the cottage – freshly showered … which led to another round in said shower. Aidan straightened in his chair as he saw the two men approaching, Luke slapping Richard on the shoulder while the other man chuckled along. “Walk went well?” Aidan inquired as the two approached and Luke flopped down into a deck chair whilst Richard helped himself to a glass of lemonade from a pitcher that Aidan had placed on the table outside. “It really was beautiful … Aidan, Dean, I have to say you have found yourselves a true treasure here …” Richard started, cheeks flushed by the fresh air. “Oh, you’re always welcome to visit, Richard …” Aidan grinned which caused a groan from Luke. “Seriously? Not even after you practically chased us off into the woods in a very … subtle manner you stop this coupling scheme of yours?”

Dean looked down onto the floor in a flight of shame that Aidan lacked. He wriggled his eyebrows, “And? Did it work?”

Richard laughed loudly and Luke only shook his head before he denied: “It really didn’t. Now would you two stop this at once? Pretty please?!”

Aidan’s jaw slacked. “What? Why not?!”

“Oh Aidan, Jesus Christ!” Dean exclaimed.

After a bit of lighthearted arguing back and forth Luke took off towards the inn again and Richard offered to prepare some lunch, to which the couple agreed happily.

 

The next days were spent in an equally lazy manner: Usually, Richard got up before Aidan or Dean did, prepared some coffee and tea and waited for either of them to join him outside, where the actor usually sat and read for an hour or two. After some light lunch they sometimes went for a walk, either alongside the cliffs or into the small village, visited Luke and even ventured down to the beach one day for a swim. It was only then that Richard told the both of them, blushing furiously, that he was terrified of water of any kind. Dean immediately went into his mother hen-mode: “But why didn’t you tell us? We could have done something different …” If possible, Richard’s blush that had been decreasing significantly during the last days, only intensified: “Because it’s ridiculous. A grown man being afraid of water …” While Dean sat down with Richard onto a rather huge rock close to the beach that one could reach without actually having to swim, Aidan took a quite extensive swim. When he finally turned around to look back towards the beach, he saw that he had been swimming quite far already. He turned around and ventured back to the shore again, more relaxed now that he had burned off some energy, his eyes fixed onto the two men on the rock. As the Irishman got closer, he saw that both of them were chatting intently, sometimes casting a glance in his direction, Dean offering him a happy wave. Relishing in the feeling of gliding through the pleasantly cool water, Aidan found himself once again absolutely happy. Being on holiday here in Cornwall, in a now very beautiful cottage, with his partner and a really good friend, both of which appeared to get along just as great as Aidan did with them, he realized that he did not need anything more than this. Briefly he wondered, if they should stay like this – Dean and him moving into the cottage, with Richard frequently visiting. Diving into the cool water entirely in order to shake this stupid schoolgirl fantasy aside, he took a few strokes towards the shore under water. As soon as he pulled himself onto the rock, he hugged a shrieking Dean (“Fuck, AIDAN!”) which caused Richard to almost double over in laughter. Aidan grinned, “Oh, don’t you think you’re safe Mr. Armitage …” and he started over to plant himself firmly against the back of the other man, who hissed audibly. Only having second thoughts then, Aidan cast a glance over Richard’s shoulder towards Dean, who grinned at him in a way that assured the Irishman that everything was okay. As evening grew closer, the two men even persuaded their guest to get into the water with them – although he refused to dive. Still, Aidan considered the day to be a success.

Another day, Aidan woke up to an empty house … which was strange.  Getting to work in the kitchen himself, he only then realized how used he had gotten to their guest preparing some hot beverage that would wake him and Dean up in a matter of seconds. The two absent men returned about half an hour later to the cottage where Aidan had flopped down lazily onto the sofa and turned on the TV that Luke had miraculously found for them.

“Inside and watching the telly! Shame on you Turner …” Dean, who carried his camera, exclaimed as soon as he saw him. Richard decided on the diplomatic approach and simply wished him a good morning before he sat down on a stuffed chair next to the sofa.

“Where have you been going then – leaving me alone in a deserted cottage? What if the hedgehogs would have come back Dean? Are you not concerned about your boyfriend?” Aidan shouted towards the kitchen just as Dean returned with two mugs of tea, one of which he handed over to Richard before he sat down next to the Irishman. “I’m sure you could have fended them off for a bit …” he said and placed a quick kiss onto Aidan’s lips.

“Damn right. I would have called Luke!” Aidan joked at which Richard chuckled into his tea. “So, how have you been so productive that you see fit to insult me watching telly then?” Aidan wanted to know. Dean grinned and took the camera from around his neck. “It was so beautiful outside today in the morning, Aidan. I woke up and there were all these clouds … so I took my camera and went outside. As Richard was already up, I asked him to join me … Have I told you how happy I am that you have invited somebody who even encourages my photography instead of simply making fun of it, baby?”

Aidan gasped, “Excuse me?! Who made you a studio in his – quote – _shoebox of an apartment_ in London? Huh?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “My wonderfully considerate boyfriend of course …”

Aidan nodded, “Exactly. And you better not forget that …” After Dean’s quiet “I would never …” and another kiss, Richard wanted to know if Dean painted as well. After talking a bit about Dean’s exhibitions, the focus once again shifted towards their photo session of the day, where Dean had taken some pictures of Richard amongst seemingly millions of capturing cliffs as well. Aidan, despite Richard’s furious blush, wanted to see them immediately.

“I’m telling you, Aid, Richard makes a very good subject …” Dean babbled as he excitedly searched his camera for the according set of pictures.

“Oh does he now …?” Aidan asked jokingly and raised his eyebrows teasingly at their guest, who looked as if he wanted the chair to swallow him whole. As Aidan saw the photos though, he couldn’t agree more: Richard, against some cliffs, fitting into the scenery perfectly with his midnight blue sweater and grey jeans; Richard’s face in a close-up, sun and clouds causing a game of shadow and light into his features, his eyes gleaming bluer than ever; Richard overlooking the sea in black and white. Aidan had to say he did have to swallow at quite a few of them heavily.

 

Another day, Dean returned from their garden in which they had planted a few herbs and flowers the other day – a task in which Richard had proven to be very useful; apparently, he did a lot of gardening at his parents’ – he simply took Aidan’s hand and dragged him from the kitchen into their bedroom, where he shut the door quietly. “Dean?” Aidan asked, slightly confused by his partner’s actions but the same only laid his lips on the Irishman’s. Pleasantly surprised, Aidan sighed into the kiss, that the other man deepened immediately. As the curly-haired man felt hands travelling south to undo his jeans though, he pulled back slightly from their shared kiss. “What are you doing …?”

“Sh!” Dean scolded and kissed his way to Aidan’s ear: “I thought that I was being quite obvious …”

A roll of eyes on Aidan’s part later, he mirrored Dean’s quiet tone: “Well, I gathered that part. But why now? Where’s Richard? And why are we whispering?”

Dean’s chuckle was swallowed by the crook of Aidan’s neck, the Kiwi’s hands caressing heated skin under the dark-haired man’s shirt. “Richard is asleep in one of the deck chairs … That’s why we are whispering …”

Aidan grinned and bit Dean’s earlobe playfully. “Well then, let’s get to work before he wakes up …” After Aidan had slid down in front of his partner, he made quick work of the other man’s jeans, he found the boxer shorts underneath hiding an already swelling erection. Chuckling quietly, Aidan at first teased his partner through his boxers until the blonde panted heavily. Sucking one last time at the damp fabric, Aidan’s hands wandered onto the back of the Kiwi and slowly started pulling the garment down, Dean’s by then fully erect cock springing free. Dean hissed while Aidan only grinned, giving the red head a playful lick. “Fuck, Aidan …” Dean groaned. The Irishman pulled back, “Like this?” Dean shook his head, “It’s not fair that I have to choose …”

Aidan chuckled, “Well, maybe we can … resume our activities at night.”

Dean smirked, “Well then. I choose to rather be inside you babe. That okay?”

Aidan stood up quickly and gave his partner a deep kiss while he unbuckled his trousers. “As if you even had to ask …”

After Dean had prepared Aidan quickly but efficiently, he positioned himself against his partner, who stayed on his hands and knees on the bed and after a quick assurance that he was ready, the blonde entered. Aidan groaned out loudly, quickly pressing his head into the covers in an attempt to stifle his sounds. “Aidan! Fuck … oh!” Dean moaned silently after a particular deep thrust on his part, “Quiet.” The Irishman waited until Dean had settled on a rhythm so he could anticipate when a sound would escape his before he answered, “You’re one to talk …” As a demonstration he rocked his hips back and caused Dean to choke out a strangled moan behind sealed lips. Increasing his pace, Dean caused Aidan to grab a pillow and press his face into the same. He did not know if he succeeded in stifling all his sounds but he was way beyond caring. Dean was driving him insane, hitting his prostate at the perfect angle, but as he was propped up on both elbows by then, he could not reach for his throbbing erection and finish himself off. Once he needed to take a much needed breath of air, a loud cry escaped him. “Shhh!” Dean scolded again and Aidan shot back a “Fuck Dean … AH! YES … oh! OH GOD! Mmmhh! You’re … ungh, ah! You’re killing me …” aalthough as quiet as possible. Dean only grunted in what Aidan assumed was an amused manner and kept his perfect torture up. Suddenly Aidan, who thought that his face must be red as a tomato on the one hand from the rhythm, the heat _and_ the pillow, felt Dean shift forward, which caused him to groan into the cushion again, even louder. Speeding up his thrusts yet again, and really, by then his partners’ cock hit Aidan’s prostate in a quick staccato, Dean covered Aidan’s back with his chest, whispering “Come for me honey! Come on …” and Aidan was lost. With another loud cry that was thankfully swallowed by the fluffy pillow, he came in thick spurts right onto their sheets, feeling Dean fill him up only seconds later.

“Holy fuck!” Aidan sighed as he let himself drop onto his side. Dean followed, their bodies still joined and let his hand run in soothing circles over Aidan’s stomach. “Indeed, baby.”

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear All,  
> thank you so much for sticking with this story, more so as the updates are more than irregular. And a special thanks to those who took the time and left me a lovely comment. You are the best <3
> 
> I hope you are going to enjoy the next chap as well :)

 

Aidan didn’t notice the shift in atmosphere right away, but as one evening after dinner Dean cornered the Irishman with a “Don’t you think that Richard behaved … well, weird lately?” in the kitchen, the curly-haired man realized that his partner – as much too often, he had to admit – was right. Drying his hands on a dishtowel, Aidan started thinking. The actor had indeed behaved strangely that last couple of days. Being open and friendly with them before, he now seemed to sink further and further into the books he brought, staying onto the deck chairs long after Dean and Aidan had retired to the cottage. He did not join them on their walks anymore, rather went on his own. When the couple sat outside with a few beers in the evening or asked Richard if he wanted to walk over to Luke’s inn, their guest retreated to his room, stating the reason that he was tired. Yes, Aidan thought, it really was weird.

“I guess …” the curly-haired man admitted. “Can you imagine why?”

Dean only shrugged. “I’ve been thinking that … I mean, it started after we, well, our _afternoon activities_ , don’t you think? Maybe he did wake and has heard us.” The blonde bit his lip but Aidan only waved his hand in the air, “Come on, he is a grown, gay men. He should not be a stranger to such things. Clearly it cannot be that …”

Dean shrugged again, “Maybe you could talk to him?”

Aidan cast his partner _a look_ , “Are you serious?” The blonde only nodded, “Dean, I will not talk to Richard about us having sex and … I don’t know, defending that what we did or even apologize. He knew we were a couple, he could have guessed that we sleep with each other from time to time …”

“But Aidan, think!” And how the Irishman hated when his partner used that sentence – because usually, it meant that he was missing a crucial part of the puzzle at hand. “He had just lost his boyfriend because of performance issues and now he is locked with the two of us in a cottage in god-forsaken nowhere, seeing us making lovey-dovey eyes at each other the whole day. And if this wouldn’t be enough already, we can’t even keep it to ourselves and have sex right before his eyes …”

Aidan snorted, “Okay, one: We did not have sex right before his eyes. Two: I hate that you are right every single time. And three: If you ever complain about me making lovey-dovey eyes at you again, I’m breaking up with you. Is that clear?”

Dean smiled and cupped Aidan’s face with both hands, placing a chaste kiss onto his lips, “So you’ll talk to him?”

“Yeah, yeah. Let me put the leftovers away and I’ll talk to him. Wait! Why is it me who has to talk to him? I want to remind you that it was your idea to indulge in _afternoon activities_.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “You two are way closer than we are. Of course you must talk to him …”

Aidan sighed and put the Tupperware boxes into their fridge, “Alright, alright. You win. … Where is he?”

The blonde smiled, “Out at the back, staring onto the sea.” Aidan nodded and went to find their guest. But Dean’s “Aidan!” made him stop and turn around. His partner smiled at him, hands in the pocket of his well-worn jeans: “You know that I’d never complain about you making lovey-dovey eyes at me, right?” Aidan smiled brightly, before he groaned in mock-offense: “If anybody says _lovey-dovey_ again I think pink hearts are going to fly out of my ass. … I just did. Damn it!” Dean’s laughter accompanied him out of the cottage, where he found Richard, as predicted, on the old wooden bench behind the cottage.

The Irishman took a deep breath, “Hey Richard!”

The actor jumped mile high off the bench. “Aidan, hi.” He smiled uneasily and as the dark-haired man sat down next to him, he was making himself ready to stand up: “Actually, I just wanted …”

Aidan would have none of it though. He laid a hand on Richard’s shoulder and pressed down gently: “Richard, come on. What is it?”

The older man frowned at him: “What do you mean?”

Aidan chuckled, “You know, for an actor, you are a terrible liar!”

After a few seconds where Aidan contemplated if he might have overstepped a boundary by putting his foot in his mouth again, Richard sighed and sank back onto the bench. “I am that obvious, huh?”

Aidan aimed at lightheartedness: “Well, if you behave like a mute hermit after even taking a swim with us down at the beach despite your fear of deep waters, we gathered that something must be up. So, spit it out, what is it?”

The actor sighed again and rubbed his eyes. Aidan, never one for patience, continued: “What did we do? You can tell me, seriously. You should know by now that I’m not easily embarrassed …”

That caused a quiet chuckle from the man sitting left to him, “No, but unfortunately I am.”

Aidan, afraid that Dean was right about him having at least heard the couple having sex, encouraged the other man, “Come on, you can tell me. I promise I won’t be mad or weird after.”

Richard looked at Aidan, already blushing so hard that it was visible even under the setting sun: “A few days ago … when I was getting inside to get a drink I … well, I _heard_ you.”

The curly-haired man cringed. Never had anybody let the word “heard” sound so scandalous. Still, he put on a smile, albeit while scratching the back of his neck. “Ah, so it was that. Crap. Well, Dean, thought something like that … Uh, we’re sorry?” Aidan knew that it sounded like a question but he really wasn’t sure why he was apologizing for a sexually fulfilled life.

Apparently, Richard thought the same because he burst out laughing, “You really are unique, you know that?”

Aidan smirked, “I have been told on one or two occasions … but they were not really favorable I’m afraid.”

Richard, still chuckling, replied: “You have nothing to be sorry for, for crying out loud.”

“But well …” Aidan started, not knowing how he could tell the man sitting next to him that he was sorry to flaunt both of their … potency before his eyes, ears – whatever – without mentioning the obvious elephant in the room.

Richard laid a hand on Aidan’s wrist, silencing the ramblings of the younger man: “I knew this would be happening – I’m not a blushing virgin Aidan.” Aidan opened his mouth and wanted to underline that neither him nor Dean thought him to be _that_ , but as Richard simply continued, the Irishman thought that the actor had gotten the picture. “Quite frankly, I am surprised that it has taken that long of me overhearing you accidentally, figuring the closeness of our rooms.”

Aidan frowned, “So it wasn’t that.”

“No”, Richard answered.

“But then what?” Aidan asked as he simply could not think about anything else that might have caused that reaction.

Richard groaned and buried his face in his hands, “It’s so embarrassing Aidan …” Aidan kept looking at him questioningly and eventually, Richard sighed in defeat. “Alright. Well … when I heard you … Christ, you really make me say it out loud, aren’t you?”

Aidan frowned, “As I have no idea what you are talking about, that would be much appreciated, yes.”

Taking a deep breath, Richard continued: “When I heard you, I … reacted, Aidan.”

Frowning at the vagueness of the other man, Aidan almost wanted to ask the actor to clarify again, when suddenly the thankfully metaphorical lightning struck. “Oh. OH! You mean …” He inched his head towards Richard’s groin and the actor blushed even further. “I am so sorry Aidan! I left immediately after I heard you but … well …”

The Irishman couldn’t hold it any longer; he burst out laughing. “Oh my God! This is just GOLD! Jesus, and we thought you were on your way into a depression or something …”

Richard looked at him in utter disbelieve: “You are not mad?”

The curly-haired man, still chuckling, slapped Richard’s leg: “Of course not! All things considered, it’s great, right? I mean, it shows that you’re way on your recovery.”

Richard let his head fall into his hands once again, “I suppose if you look at it like that …”

Aidan sighed, “If anything like that happens ever again, please promise me that you won’t get into another mood like this? Dean was probably a day from getting a panic attack.”

“Was he?” Richard seemed even more miserable than before. Aidan clapped him on the shoulder, “Yeah, he’s a mother hen like that. Sometimes, he’s even worse than Adam. … Don’t tell him I said that”, the Irishman added as an afterthought.

Richard seemed truly taken, “I am sorry that you were worried on my behalf … I should go and apologize to Dean …”

Aidan only shook his head, “Nah, just let him take your picture tomorrow and everything will be forgotten. I’ll tell him now, I think he already went to bed …”

“I’m sorry Aidan …” Richard said again, but Aidan only hugged him. “Don’t apologize to me again, Nobody did anything wrong.” He smiled as he stood up and turned around once more, “Turn off the light in the kitchen when you go to bed yourself, will you?” Richard only nodded in approval.

 

As Aidan slipped into bed beside Dean, who had already curled into a ball, the Kiwi yawned: “And? Everything okay?”

Aidan chuckled into his partner’s back and nodded. “Yeah, I’d say it’s even more than okay”, he whispered. The blonde turned around and frowned at the Irishman, who simply said: “Maybe we should consider a career in the porn industry, Dean dear.” The Kiwi slapped him on the head: “WHAT?!” Aidan giggled for a few seconds before he explained: “Richard did hear us _and_ he did get hard as a result. That’s why he behaved the way he did … he was really embarrassed by that.” Aidan enjoyed how Dean’s eyes grew round as plates before he burst into a fit of giggles himself. The curly-haired man let his hand wander over Dean’s side: “See, us having sex was not the problem, but the solution …” Dean groaned, but never stopped giggling. Aidan briefly wondered how he did that.

After the blonde had calmed down a bit, he suddenly got really serious again: “Aidan?”

“Yes?” the younger man answered, not sure if he liked that change in tone. But he couldn’t have misinterpreted Dean’s reaction to the whole thing – he did giggle after all. Surely he wasn’t angry with Richard …

The grin forming on Dean’s face told Aidan that he had calculated right; still, he wondered what would come next. The blonde cleared his throat: “I wanna say this first: This is a real proposition, not a joke. One that we should take some time to think about, surely, but a proposition nevertheless. If any of us is not comfortable though, we say so straight away, okay?”

Aidan’s heart beat a little faster; he was getting nervous. “Okay …?”

“Do you remember when we met Hugo at one of my art shows? About a year after we started dating …”

Aidan frowned briefly, but soon the image of the Australian art collector flashed up in front of his eyes – which was followed by some other, less PG-rated images. Now it was Aidan’s turn to look at Dean with eyes round as plates. Dean’s grin only grew.

“You mean …” Aidan started and Dean nodded. “Are you serious?” Dean grinned and leaned over to kiss Aidan lovingly on the lips. “Don’t tell me you do not find him attractive …”

“Of course I do …” Aidan said and only as an afterthought he added, “Do you?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Who cannot feel strongly for a man who makes such an amazing subject for portrait photography?”

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe with this chapter, a slight warning is due:  
> Rather radical reactions of - I want to underline - some parts of the roman catholic church to homosexuality are mentioned. But nothing too graphic. Still, one cannot be too careful, so if this is some sort of trigger for you, you might skip the first half.

 

The facts were these:

About a year after Dean and Aidan had met, Aidan had flown over to Wellington, where Dean had a huge exhibition. The biggest one so far. And of course, Aidan wouldn’t have missed it for the world – although, he almost had. Because the flight had been late, there had been an accident on the way to their hotel and traffic itself had been chaos. Which had led to Aidan changing in the back of the taxi and only arriving after the opening ceremony of the gallery – with a wrinkled blazer. He had spotted Dean rather quickly however; Dean, who stood with a very well-dressed man in front of one of his works, explaining something rather expressively. The other man, in a burgundy suit, had listened intently at what his partner had to say – although he had been clearly more interested in Dean himself than the painting. At least that had been Aidan’s guess. As he had walked over, apologizing to Dean that he had missed the opening and putting a demonstrative kiss on his partner’s lips, the other man had immediately apologized to Dean for flirting with him. Had he known that he had a partner, he would never have done so. The funny thing had been that Aidan immediately believed him. And as they had kept talking back and forth, even venturing to an adjoining bar as the gallery closed, Aidan had found him and Dean flirting with the man – Hugo – who flirted right back. As those had been their “wild days” as a couple, both had taken Hugo back to their hotel room, the art collector not even mentioning that he surely had been used to hotel rooms far more luxurious than theirs, and the three had slept together. And it had been great. At first, Aidan had feared that it might have become awkward at some point, but in fact, it hadn’t. All had been so natural, that the three of them had even gone for breakfast the next morning – and had made plans to go to see a move the day after. For as long as they had stayed in Wellington, they had spent beautiful days and nights with Hugo, who lived in Australia, which had them talking between the two of them one evening. Dean, as usual, had been the one to address the obvious and had asked if Aidan had enjoyed the last days as much as he himself had. Which Aidan had. And so both – after a lengthy discussion that had lasted almost throughout the night – had decided to ask Hugo if he could imagine a polyamorous relationship with the two of them. And they had, over dinner, which had turned out to be a huge mistake. Hugo had almost suffocated on his vegetable lasagna and as everything had been settled once again, he had told them that he, in fact, was married. As his wife had been a rather liberal being, she tolerated his adventures but surely would not be doing so if he should decide to engage long-term with more than one man. And that, as they say, had been that. Another Hugo had never come along – until now.  Until Richard.

Dean opening the perspective of them getting into a poly-relationship with the actor had Aidan’s heart beating faster. More so, as he scuffled out of the cottage the next morning, finding Dean and Richard sitting at the small white garden table. Dean, wearing a light blue T-Shirt, sunglasses popped on top of his head, surrounded by his mane of golden locks, showing Richard who wore a simple black shirt, something on his camera. Great, at least they weren’t awkward around each other anymore. The Irishman smiled to himself and walked over. “Please don’t tell me you’ve already been down by the sea and have taken Richard’s picture. It’s way too early for that!” Aidan joked as he plopped down onto one of the two still remaining chairs. Richard only smiled at him and wished him a good morning that Aidan met with a blinding grin of his own before he tied his own locks on the back of his head. Dean however only rolled his eyes, “Why on earth do you believe that Richard would only look good down at the sea? I have great plans Aidan …” Aidan only huffed, but immediately got how Dean started to flirt subtly with the other, right now blushing man who sat on their table. Aidan inwardly grinned, “Richard, if you’re not careful, he’ll put together an exhibition on the subject of … you.” The actor decided to take a diplomatic sip of tea, while Dean looked pointedly into Aidan’s direction: “Well, I wouldn’t have to if _someone_ would allow me to show the pictures I took of them.”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “You are not displaying those. My dear mother would get a heart attack …”

Dean opened his mouth but immediately shut it – which Aidan was immensely grateful for. Truth to be told, Aidan hadn’t thought about what had come out his mouth just then. It somehow was a catch-phrase, wasn’t it? Richard however, who didn’t know Aidan’s story as detailed as Dean did – obviously – replied: “You wouldn’t have to invite her …”

Dean looked worriedly into Aidan’s direction but the Irishman decided to laugh. “You know, this is exactly what Dean was about to say, wasn’t it? Or maybe something a bit harsher …”

Dean smiled, although not without a hint of guilt, “You know me too well, honey.”

The curly-haired man sighed: “That I do.” Then, he turned towards a rather lost looking Richard: “You have to know, Richard, that the relationship with my parents … my family, really, is … let say, not ideal. I told you about that briefly, I think” The actor nodded, so Aidan continued, “Once I came out to them, they thought that it would only be a phase at first. As soon as they realized that no amount of nice and proper girls they introduced to me would change my mind, things got … less pleasant. Their first step was to make appointments with various psychiatrists and doctors I don’t even know which fields of exactly. As nothing seemed to change … as _I_ didn’t seem to change, they decided on something more drastic. I … They are really catholic, you know? So they hired a priest who …” Aidan bit his lip as an involuntary shiver ran down is spine. “… whose field of expertise seemed to be exorcisms.” Richard took a sharp breath and Dean simply looked down onto his camera. He hated when Aidan got to this part of the story, the Irishman knew that much. The Irishman looked up at Richard, quite bravely if anybody asked him. Not surprisingly, he found only deep sympathy in the blue eyes of the actor, who swallowed, “The scars on your back … are they …?” Richard asked – and of course he had seen them the day they had gone swimming. Aidan only nodded and held out his wrist to the actor: “This one as well …” He could still feel the rope burning its pattern into the inside of his wrist. But by then, he was at a stage in his life where he could accept and even cherish the careful and loving way Dean usually caressed those scars on his back and legs and the one on his wrist that decided to remain. Dean only shook his head, “And those are the people who tell _us_ that we’re sick and perverted …” Richard positively had tears in his eyes as he muttered an “Unbelievable. … Aidan, I am so, so sorry that something like that happened to you.”

The dark haired man shrugged, “That’s when I decided to move. I have tried to get in contact with them twice actually, but they didn’t seem interested.” Aidan looked down to the mug of coffee in his hands. “It’s really funny, how that still affects me. It has been quite a few years now after all …” he said more to himself than to the other two men sitting at the table with him. It was weird, how that hole inside him always kept opening up as soon as he thought about his parents. Dean’s hand was immediately on top of his own and Richard leaned a little closer too. “They don’t deserve you, Aidan. I’m serious. What they did to you …” The Irishman smiled a little to himself and then looked up, finding Dean nodding in agreement “Hear. Hear. Be glad that I never met them in person, Aidan … or that … _priest_.”

Aidan sighed. He knew that that wasn’t an empty threat which was why, during the last years, he hadn’t sought contact with his parents or his siblings again. Looking at both men at the table, Aidan was only too aware of how the atmosphere had shifted … and they couldn’t have that. Most of all, he couldn’t have both men looking at him like that, like they would burst to tears any minute. So he grinned, “Well, as awful as that was, I gained an exceptional family in New Zealand …” He squeezed Dean’s hand and Dean laughed. “Yeah?” Richard asked and Aidan only nodded. Dean only snorted, “They like him more than they like me, I’m telling you Richard …”

The actor snorted while Aidan exclaimed, “Well, I did help your Mum cooking Christmas dinner …”

The Kiwi rolled his eyes, “She forbade me to enter the kitchen on such occasions.”

Aidan grinned, “Because he burnt the bird once …” Richard laughed and Dean slapped Aidan on the shoulder, “I did not burn it! It was only a little …”

“… Black? Black and dry?” Aidan offered, which had Richard chuckling continuously. “I am serious Richard, I saw the pictures which – for once – somebody else but Dean made.”

“I wonder why …” Richard mockingly said with a glance towards Dean, who mumbled, “No criminal saves the evidence …”

Aidan by then burst into a fit of laughter himself, “Criminal? Yeah, the really was a crime against all turkeys, alright …”

 

The day was spent on the beach again, where Richard read while Aidan and Dean splashed around in the water like little kids. Once they were out of the actor’s earshot, Aidan moved towards Dean and grinned at him, “Let’s ask him.” Dean beamed, “Yeah?” Aidan nodded, droplets from his hair falling onto his chest, “Yeah. … But … Dean, you really want this?” The blonde frowned and Aidan rolled his eyes, “You’re not suggesting this because I have developed a little crush on him, right?” Dean snickered, “Glad that you admitted that … and I have as well. It really is hard not to, given the way he is. I am surprised Luke didn’t take his chances …”

Aidan smiled and kissed Dean lovingly, “You think it will change this? Us?”

Dean’s smile did not falter, “I am sure it will. But we’ve thought about this so often and … now that an opportunity is here, we would be stupid not to take it. We would be asking ourselves the whole time: _what if_? And change does not mean for the worse, right? Who knows, maybe we’ll love each other in ways that we did not think possible before?”

Aidan smiled and kissed the dripping wet man in front of him: “As always, you are right. … And you know that I won’t stop loving you, right?”

“Of course I do … Because neither will I, my brave Irishman.”

Both men kissed again, then turned around and saw Richard watching them. They grinned at each other and simply waved at the man waiting on “their” rock for them who seemed a bit embarrassed to be caught staring.

 

After a shower, a meal and a drink or two in Luke’s inn, the three men ventured back to their cottage again, Aidan and Dean practically squeezing the others hands in anticipation. Once there, Dean retrieved a bottle of red wine which he carried out to their garden, where Aidan and Richard sat on two deckchairs, chuckling about the comparability of Luke’s to Graham’s banter regarding Richard’s alcohol choices. Dean poured each of them a glass of wine and Richard raised his eyebrows: “What’s the occasion?” Aidan only frowned mockingly and the actor let his gaze wander between the two younger men, “You drinking wine? Pinot noir, my favorite? Come on, something is up … You’re not kicking me out, are you?” Richard smiled but still he looked a little worried. Aidan chuckled and clinked his glass against Richard’s and then Dean’s, the other two men doing the same afterwards: “Quite the opposite Richard, quite the opposite. Still, let’s have a drink first, it will make things easier. At least for me …”

Dean snorted but took a second sip of wine as well. Richard looked doubtful at the two of them and really, they couldn’t blame him. Aidan’s heart picked up speed and he was glad that he had already indicated that they had something important to discuss with the actor because otherwise, he was sure he would back out of it again. He felt like he was sixteen again, telling David O’Harris that he thought he was the best looking boy in their entire school. Aidan gulped. He hoped that this would be going better than with David O’Harris.

“Okay … uhm … Richard …” Aidan started eloquently, but then turned to Dean, “Dean, I am going to put a foot in my mouth, surely. If I say something stupid, which I most likely will, please correct me.” Dean chuckled and kissed Aidan’s cheek while Richard started looking really uncomfortable. It was only fair to relieve him of the tension. Poor man! So Aidan tried again: “Richard. Dean and me … we have enjoyed you being here very much. We … we like you, Richard …”

The actor then took a sip of red wine himself, “It still sounds as you want to kick me out …” he aimed at a joke and Dean giggled. Aidan turned to his partner, who sat next to him on the deck chair, “You can take over anytime, you know …” The blonde only smiled and patted Aidan’s knee, “You’re doing great. Just go ahead and tell Richard again how much we like him …”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “Really, Dean? Now? Couldn’t you have taken another time to make fun of me and my rhetoric incapabilities? You are the academic here, if I may remind you …” Dean opened his mouth again, but Aidan clapped his hand over his partner’s lips. “Richard, as I have said, we like you very much and we have wondered … uhm, if you like us as well?” Hand still on Dean’s mouth, the curly-haired man could literally feel the eye roll. Richard frowned, “Sure I like you, what do you … What is this about?” Aidan sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, so he gave Dean’s his ability to talk back. “What my esteemed partner wants to say is that … well, we both have developed a little … oh, who are we kidding, quite a crush on you.” Aidan nodded. Yep, it could have been that easy.

Richard however blushed furiously again, not knowing where to look, to cast his eyes. Dean continued, “And, given some of the … latest developments we have had reason to hope that maybe there is a slight possibility that you might feel something towards us as well. And after we have talked a little about, well, everything … we might have hoped that we could explore this, whatever it is or might be, together. The three of us. … However you’d want that.”

Richard looked like a trapped rabbit from Dean to Aidan and back to Dean again. Then, he emptied his glass of wine down in a single gulp, reaching for the bottle again just as his glass hit the table surface. “If you want to, of course.” Aidan supplied helpfully. Richard only shook his head.

 _Great_ , Aidan thought, _now we have destroyed everything. And the holiday had been so pleasant until now. Should I call Luke for a room right away?!_

Richard’s calm voice brought him back from his internal freak-out again, “I would never …” Dean’s eyebrows rose and Aidan wasn’t aware of himself holding his breath. The actor cleared his throat and apparently decided to start out differently: “Dean, I am sure that Aidan has told you about my little … misinterpretation of him caring for me during my treatment, am I right?” Dean only nodded and a flash of guilt waved through Aidan at the thought. Richard however only smiled at Aidan, “I have to admit – and I am not proud of myself, I have to admit – that I wasn’t sure coming here would be such a good idea. I was jealous of what you and Aidan had, most of all that you had Aidan and at first I wasn’t convinced I could stay here even for a week or two.” Aidan looked sadly at Richard. But the actor only kept smiling, “This might sound as something from a terrible chick flick, but as soon as I met you I immediately liked you. I saw you and Aidan together and all I could do was being happy for you that you have found each other. And that …” he trailed off and looked onto the glass of red wine in his hands, “… that you would let me into something so beautiful touches me very, very deeply.” Aidan really had to gulp. Damn that man and his way of phrasing things! “But … How can you? I mean, you practically don’t know me …” Richard trailed off again.

Aidan smiled, “We know the important parts.”

Richard’s eyes, filled with a strange combination of wonder and disbelieve, fixed on him. Dean rubbed Aidan’s shoulder, “You know, for somebody who tripped over his own tongue only minutes ago, this was quite beautiful …” Aidan snorted, “I take this and file it under compliment, just so you know.” Dean smiled at Aidan and then, both looked over at Richard again, who seemed truly at a loss. After a few moments of silence that was brimming with anticipation, Richard was the one to speak first: “I would never have dared to … to even suggest … I … Truth to be told, I am a bit overwhelmed by this. Not in a bad way, but still …”

Dean nodded, “That’s really quite understandable. And we do not want to rush you into anything”, at which point, Aidan took over, “Exactly. Take your time, think about it. And when you’re ready, you tell us. If you decide that’s something you do not want, then we leave it at that and continue just as we started out. And if you say yes, we’ll figure everything out from then. Sounds good?”

Richard smiled, “It does sound good.”

Aidan beamed and caught Dean, who allowed himself to cast one of his I-think-I-just-realized-I-might-be-in-love looks at their guest. Richard, of course, didn’t know those yet, but Aidan smirked and squeezed Dean’s thigh. “Well then”, the Irishman started, “Richard, hand that bottle over. I think its time for a second glass – now we have that settled.”

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, finally an update from Cornwall :)  
> I hope you'll enjoy it!

 

The following two days passed much like the ones before: Richard reading in one of the deck chairs while Dean aimed at pulling the weeds from their garden whilst gravely insulting them (“You little fuckers didn’t think you could leave us a month without you sticking your little green sprouts of evil out, huh? Assholes!”). Aidan prepared their lunches and sometimes their dinners, with great help from Richard, who surely knew how to make a damn fine risotto (to which they added herbs from their freshly weeded garden), lounged in the deck chair next to Richard’s or helped Dean with his insults. The three of them went shopping with Luke to a nearby farmer’s market and continued rummaging through an adjoining flea market at which they found a great lamp for their living room. What they hadn’t calculated was how long the way to their cottage and how heavy the lamp was. Still, Richard helped then with the carrying – once Aidan and Dean had successfully pulled him away from the vintage books after their third attempt. In addition, Aidan called Adam and asked if there were any news on the holiday front. “This guy is a menace Aid, I’m telling you. You know what? Maybe next week.” Aidan emphasized that he could do with a holiday and promptly called Luke afterwards – not to make a reservation but to inquire if there still were rooms available (there were).

Everything was just the way it had been since the day Richard arrived. And wasn’t Aidan glad about that. He briefly wondered if they had scared the rather introverted actor with their suggestion but Dean managed to calm him down to a reasonable degree. At least they had been honest to him and that was the most important part. And the actor had truly seemed very touched by their confession … Still, a few things kept the Irishman busy: Should they have told him that they had thought about this whole poly-thing quite a bit? That it was caused by their affair with another man who hadn’t or couldn’t have returned their wish to pursue whatever they had? Would that make Richard feel like a rebound? Which he most certainly wasn’t … Would it make them seem like perverts? Aidan’s head spun with unspoken questions and he was once again so thankful for having Dean next to him who always seemed to calm him down, and be it with a “Jesus Christ Aidan! If you don’t stop turning this over and over your pretty head is going to explode!” Right he was. And charming as always.

 

At the evening of the second day after their confession or declaration or offer – whatever one might call it – there was a tentative knock on their bedroom door. Dean had already snuggled into the covers wile Aidan was still sending pictures from the flea market to a very excited Leonora via Whatsapp. “Yeah?” Aidan called a little surprised that Richard was still up. He had gone to bed before them after all. A moment later, the door opened slowly and Richard’s head appeared: “Hey, am I disturbing?”

Aidan smiled, “Not at all. This one is too tired for any adult activity anyway …”

“Screw you, I weeded the garden …” came the answer from beneath their fluffy pillows. Aidan rolled his eyes, “You insulted the poor fresh grass so that they pulled back in all on their own.”

Richard smiled, but did not move from the entryway to their bedroom. “Maybe I …This can wait until tomorrow …”

Aidan shook his head, “Rubbish. Come in.” Richard entered, not at all confidently, as he made his way over to the small table in their bedroom and sat down at a chair. Aidan briefly noted that he had never seem Richard in his PJ’s that consisted of light, blue plaid pants and a white T-Shirt. He smiled up at the actor, “So, what’s up?”

Richard exhaled and kneaded his hands. It never ceased to amaze Aidan how small that tall man looked in situations like that. “I … I have been thinking about … what we talked about two days ago.”

All of a sudden, the curly-haired man’s heartrate picked up its speed again and not two seconds later, the Kiwi at his side freed himself from where he lay practically buried beneath blankets and pillows. “Oh! Okay – good. And?” Aidan answered because he felt like he needed to say something but had no clue what was appropriate.

Richard grinned as Dean’s head finally emerged from the sea of light blue that were their bedsheets and continued, “Firstly, I have to admit that your … proposal had really taken me off guard. And I didn’t know what to do with it exactly. Even though I already knew that I have been …” Richard looked down onto his clasped hands and grinned, “… that I am attracted to Aidan and by now I most certainly am attracted to the both of you. But the thought of entering something so unconventional frightened me. And if I’m being honest it still does.”

Dean nodded, “Would it make you feel better if we tell you that it is exactly the same with us?”

The actor chuckled and nodded, “Actually it does. So, you haven’t tried anything like that either?”

This time, Aidan responded, “No, we haven’t. We were thinking about it once, to be completely honest but that hadn’t turned out so well. Meaning: It didn’t go beyond a few very pleasant nights.”

Richard nodded, “I see. And … why didn’t it work out? If that’s not too personal …”

“Jesus, we practically invited you into our bed, of course it’s not too personal!” Aidan exclaimed and clarified, “He was married.”

Richard looked at them like a deer in the headlights before he burst out laughing, “Okay, that I am definitely not.” Dean and Aidan chuckled as well. But soon, the man sitting opposite them – and really, it was a weird set-up, like a job interview, Aidan thought briefly – got serious again: “But aren’t you afraid this will change things for you? What you have is something extraordinary. Why putting that at risk? For … for me?”

Before Aidan even could, Dean intercepted, “Okay, first of all: Stop this ‘I-am-not-worth-this’-attitude. Seriously Richard, don’t you see what a wonderful man you are?” Said wonderful man blushed a bright shade of red, while Aidan patted Dean on the back, “Couldn’t have said that better!” The Irishman thought that he might have heard a very, very quiet “If you say so…” but one couldn’t be sure. Dean shifted closer to Aidan and both men looked expectantly to Richard, giving him the time he obviously needed. A few moments later, he started to nod, “Alright. Okay … so, if you’re still sure about this, despite my … well, looming incapabilities and my inexperience with more than one partner at a time, I would … I would like to try.” Aidan could feel how his lips split into the most radiant grin, Dean doing the exact same beside him. They surely looked like lunatics in blue sheets. Still, Richard didn’t seem to mind and grinned almost sheepishly as well, looking a little shyly over to them. After this joyful silence lasted for what could have been only seconds or minutes, Aidan was the first to lose his grin in favor of actually saying something: “Well Richard, why on earth are you still sitting over there? This seems like an interrogation …” Dean chuckled and nodded. “It really does. Come on over …”

Richard took a deep breath and stood up, making his way over to their bed at a snail’s pace. Almost as if he waited from them to call everything a joke. Both, Dean’s and his own eyes followed every of his moves, until he stood awkwardly on Aidan’s side of the bed. Sitting down slowly, he chuckled: “I don’t even know if I did the right thing, coming over to this side of the bed …”

Aidan laughed out loudly, Dean following suit. “You’re fine”, the blonde calmed Richard’s quite obviously flaring nerves, “If you’re doing something I think offensive, I’ll tell you. I promise.” The Kiwi winked and Aidan held up a finger: “Ah! Good point! Honesty and such.” Aidan scooted over a little so that he was facing Richard more directly than before, “As Dean and I have talked about our previous … try at a poly-relationship, the most important thing for us was, and still is, complete honesty.” The Irishman felt Dean shift closer to his back, the blonde’s arm sneaking around his waist.

“You know, about everything. I mean, at some point, we have to talk about what we like and what we don’t like in order to figure out how we … well, fit together. In more ways than one.” The curly-haired man wriggled his eyebrows and Dean snorted, slightly shaking his head. Richard also smiled and nodded. Still, Aidan continued, “This might be a bit unnerving at first, but we think it’s necessary. We need to be able to talk about everything.”

Richard nodded again, “I think you’re absolutely right.”

Aidan smiled, “And: We need you to tell us if we do something that makes you feel left out or if you don’t think this is going to work. Seriously, the second you think you see a problem, you tell us. The same goes for the two of us, of course.”

The actor smiled, “Duly noted.”

The Irishman smiled, briefly looking over his shoulder to be faced with a smiling Dean. “Well, then …” Aidan started and carefully reached out to touch Richard’s hand that lay on top of the blue sheets. At the first contact, the actor almost flinched back, but soon, he turned his hand around so they could entwine their fingers. Aidan beamed up at him and slowly, an honest smile spread on Richard’s face as well. Aidan slowly lifted their joined hands and placed a kiss on the back of Richard’s, feeling that the other man trembled slightly. The younger man leaned over slowly and placed his free hand on Richard’s neck, who immediately leaned into the touch. After unconsciously biting his lip, Aidan leaned in and touched his lips gently to Richard’s in a quick peck. He felt the other man’s heat on his face as well as the release of breath the actor apparently had been holding. Meeting in a second, longer kiss that set butterflies in Aidan’s stomach loose, he felt more than heard Richard’s sigh into the kiss and surprisingly, it was the actor who let his tongue run playfully over the curly-haired man’s lower lip. Aidan was aware that Dean caressed his side lovingly and his heart swelled even more, resting assured that Dean liked what he saw. Still, they did not deepen the kiss further and pulled back. Aidan smiled brightly and was happy to find Richard doing the same. The older man let his head sink down for a few moments, shaking it as if in complete disbelieve. Aidan took the time to turn to face Dean, who immediately placed a quick peck onto the side of the Irishman’s face. As Richard looked up again, that adorable small grin on his face, Aidan shifted back a little, indicating that Richard should move closer to them, which he did – albeit not after a moment of hesitation. Aidan never thought that sheets could rustle that loudly.

Dean smiled at Richard, that sunny smile that made other people like him immediately. The attractive thing about it was, that he wasn’t doing it consciously. As Richard almost shyly shifted a little closer and then fully got onto the bed, Dean chuckled as he let one of his hands run over Richard’s neck, comparable to Aidan’s gesture before. “Hi”, Dean whispered. Richard chuckled, “Hi.” Now it was Dean’s turn to shift closer, slowly reducing the distance between his and Richard’s faces. Still, he let Richard decide the moment to close the gap. When he did, Aidan had to take a sharp breath. Yes, he knew that looking at his partner being kissed by another man that he found equally attractive could be a very arousing sight but this exceeded all he had felt when they had shared their bed with Hugo for a week or so. The Irishman felt as if all the air of his lungs got knocked out. He only realized that he had stopped breathing completely as the lips of the two other man stopped moving against each other. Dean bit his lower lip while a huge grin spread on his face. Suddenly, he turned towards Aidan and kissed him. Embarrassingly enough, it took Aidan a few moments to properly respond. On the upside, Aidan was sure that Richard felt exactly as he had only moments ago, at least judging by the look on the other man’s face.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way”, Dean started, running his hand over Richard’s arm whilst leaning onto Aidan on this other side, “Do we come up to your expectations or do you want to blow the deal right away?” Aidan chuckled and buried his face in his hands. That surely had been a sentence that could have come directly from himself.

Richard grinned, “Oh that sealed the deal, if you ask me …” Aidan was sure his partner beamed at the actor just like he did. Jesus, had his heart raced like that all the time? “But”, Richard started again, “would it be okay if I … did not sleep here tonight? I still need a little bit of time … Oh!” he exclaimed suddenly, “Maybe you didn’t even want … tonight … I …” The blushing and the averted eyes were back again in full force.

Dean put a hand on Richard’s cheek comfortingly, “Hey, Richard. Look at us …” As Richard did as he was told, Aidan took hold of one of the older man’s hands, while Dean continued, “Of course it is fine if you sleep on your own tonight. Even though we wouldn’t mind you staying if you preferred that. Whatever you are most comfortable with …”

Aidan nodded, “Yeah. I have to say, it was all a bit much for one day, if you ask me.”

Richard looked up at him like he wanted to kiss him, which – well, maybe wasn’t so far off anyway. “Thank you. Both of you”, he said before he shifted off the bed, not without kissing firstly Aidan and then Dean good night quickly. Both men beamed at him as he turned around at their bedroom door with an, “See you tomorrow.”

Once the door was closed, Dean turned over to Aidan: “Is it just me or was that way hotter than with Hugo?”

Aidan did his utmost not to laugh too loudly, so that they wouldn’t give Richard any wrong ideas. As he giggled as quietly as possible, he simply gave his partner a thumbs up.

 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

 

Aidan didn’t know what had happened: Maybe it was the recent developments with Richard that made him giddy all over or it had something to do with the lunar cycle or something like that. All he knew was that he was wide awake at half past six in the goddamn morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Not even if he shifted so close to Dean that he could practically inhale his blonde hair, which usually always helped. So after he had tossed and turned in their bed a bit, he sighed quietly in order not to wake up his partner and tiptoed into the bathroom. Brushing his teeth while relieving himself, he then did his utmost to brush his hair but after some time gave up and simply tied it in a bun before he ventured into the kitchen. Once the coffee was brewing and he had set a kettle for the tea, he opened the kitchen window and was immediately greeted with the salty air from the sea that lay right in front of him. As much of a pain in the ass the salt was on their garden furniture and even their windows, this view and the air was clearly worth it.

Just as he turned around to get himself a mug and pour some coffee before going out into the garden, Richard came into the kitchen. Unlike Aidan, who stood in the kitchen in his boxers and a T-shirt, the actor was already dressed for the day in beige pants and a blue jersey shirt, looking a little shy again. Aidan smiled, got another cup for Richard and poured him some tea, as he knew he liked a cup of tea before anything else was allowed into his system. Once he walked over and handed Richard the cup, he got up on his toes and pecked Richard on the lips before wishing him a “Good morning”. As the actor seemed slightly taken aback, the Irishman smiled again and pulled Richard with him into the garden. If they were to talk, they would better do it outside, as the cottage transported noise really well.

Sitting down at the chairs and looking onto the already risen sun, Richard took a sip of the scalding hot tea. Aidan had to give him credit for the fact that he didn’t let it show in the slightest. “Was that okay?” he asked after a few moments of silence. Aidan frowned, “The kiss?” The taller man only nodded and Aidan couldn’t help himself, he just had to reach out for his hand. “Of course it was okay Richard. If Dean had been up first, I am sure he had done just the same. Will do the same, once he gets up …” Aidan smiled and took a long sip of his coffee.

Richard shook his head and looked down on the green cup in his hands. “I must seem like a complete idiot to you …” he said with a voice just shy of cracking.

Now it was Aidan’s term to shake his head: “Richard, who in the name of God has made you insecure like that? Of course it’s okay if you have questions or are unsure about certain things in the beginning. That’s normal! I mean, come on, I have known Dean for years and you have only just met him. It’s obvious that I can judge his behavior better than you can.” The actor looked sheepishly up at the Irishman and opened his mouth, but Aidan was quicker, “And don’t you dare apologize again. Richard, it’s fine … everything is fine.” Richard smiled slightly and nodded. Still, that didn’t keep Aidan from walking over to the chair their guest sat on and wrap his arms around him from behind: “We’ll figure everything out at our own pace, alright?” He felt the other man nod, “Okay.”

“Good!” Aidan said and squeezed Richard one more time before he went over to sit in his own chair again. Suddenly, an idea formed in his head, “You know what?” Richard looked at him expectantly, “That’s exactly the point. You need to get to know the two of us better … and the other way round as well.”

Richard looked at him questioningly, “What do you mean?”

“I mean”, the curly-haired man elaborated, “that as I have just said, Dean and I have known each other for years. And we need to catch up on that with you, at least as much as we can right now. So I would suggest that the three of us are going to spend a day together. Just like when we walked down to the beach to swim. We’ll talk to Dean of course, but … I don’t know, I think a small trip or something will be good.” In his head, Aidan added, _Out in the open, so you don’t have to think about sex or something like that all the time. That man is freaking himself out constantly for no reason._ Richard agreed, although he did not seem as enthusiastic about Aidan’s idea as the Irishman himself was. As Dean walked out with his own cup of coffee, he placed a kiss onto Richard’s lips just like Aidan had, which led the actor loose at least some of his tension. “Yeah, okay. You two are practically telepath’s I get it now”, he had chuckled.

So they decided that they would take Luke’s car and drive up to some cliffs and a ruin about an hour away. Dean had wanted to go up there for quite some time by then, of course to get some pictures taken. Aidan only rolled his eyes and underlined that the point of the trip was not to “capture every fern visible in the radius of two miles.” Dean had only scoffed, “Ferns are beautiful, you heathen!” Aidan had only shrugged and got vaguely concerned that Richard would be re-evaluating his decision.

Once up at the beautiful and – Aidan had to admit – quite picturesque ruin, the Irishman was assured that his fear had been absolutely irrational. Richard laughed along with them as Dean practically threw himself in the mud for one snapshot or another panoramic capture and Dean emphasized that this was the reason he never wore expensive clothes. Aidan was pleasantly surprised as the actor once held his hand out to help the Kiwi up and pecked him on the side of his head quickly – despite the tourist group about ten feet away from them. The same counted for the time they went down a ridiculously green hill to get closer to the beach and the curly-haired man suddenly felt a hand slip into his own from behind. Turning, he somehow expected Dean, but was faced with a smiling Richard. Aidan smiled up at him and a second later spotted Dean somewhere to their left, in the middle of the meadow. Aidan fondly shook his head, earning a chuckle from Richard, whom he tugged with him further down to the beach. To the photographer’s shouted protest, Aidan only replied, “You go back to your ferns and meet us down at the beach …” Richard chuckled but stopped Aidan briefly. “Doesn’t he mind?” the actor wanted to know. Aidan only snorted, “Nah. He always tells me that I distract him anyway.” Richard nodded with a grin, “I see.” The Irishman sighed dramatically, “The hardships of dating a photographer! … Well, that and the dirty clothes …” As he grinned sheepishly up at Richard, the actor squeezed his hand fondly. Aidan would deny the stupid smirk on his face for eternity.

Down at the beach, Dean met the two other men sitting on a group of rocks that surprisingly was empty. Aidan had been sure that the tourists from the ruin would have ventured down to the beach as well. But apart from a couple walking their dog, nobody else was in sight. “Maybe because the sea’s that wild today …” Richard mused and Aidan nodded, “It’s a shame though. I would have loved to take a swim …” He felt Richard’s gaze upon him and couldn’t help himself: it was the same look his mother had given him when he had done something incredibly stupid. The Irishman only pointed over at Dean, who had sat down cross-legged besides Richard, looking through the pictures on his camera: “Save your look for that one Richard. I was not the one who went for a surf in Piha while there was a storm warning out …” The actor only raised his eyebrow to an oblivious Kiwi. Aidan chuckled and called out for the photographer, who looked up at them questioningly. “What? Sorry …” The other two men chuckled and waved at him dismissively. Their reward however was that Dean raised his camera and snapped their picture.

 

After the three of them had returned Luke’s car and had dinner at Luke’s inn – not without leaving a generous tip to make up for the petrol they used and an invitation for a movie night at their place once he could find somebody to take his shift – they returned to their cottage. Switching on the television and leaving it on some kind of documentary, Aidan flopped down onto the comfy sofa next to Richard. “Ungh! I’m getting too old for extended trips like that …” the curly-haired man moaned and let his head sink down onto the backrest. The actor only huffed and put the papers he had been reading down: “How was that again?” The Irishman chuckled and slapped Richard’s knee playfully. “You know what I mean …” Dean, who just came into the living area by then with three mugs of tea, asked, “What are you talking about?” before he sat down next to Aidan. The Irishman could only open his mouth before Richard answered, “That kid over there is complaining about his age …”

Dean frowned as he placed the mugs on the table, “Is he now? Well, as I have always said: In terms of stamina, the factor of youth is overrated. Wouldn’t you agree Richard?”

Aidan snorted, “Careful you two! I might want proof of that hypothesis …”

Dean rolled his eyes fondly, “Spoken like a true academic.”

“I have learned from the best”, Aidan countered and looked mockingly over at Dean, who saluted him with his mug of tea.

Richard, who had also taken a sip of tea, then asked, “What do you study, Dean?”

The Kiwi grinned, “I’m currently doing my thesis in communications … well, should be doing it, but most of my time I spend with doing organizational work and teaching. That and my photography and painting … not to mention the time I have spent making this cottage livable again …”

Aidan smiled, “And didn’t he do a marvelous job?”

Richard only replied with an “Indeed” and cast a smile in Dean’s direction who – Aidan swore he saw it – blushed slightly. His theory was proven by the fact that the Kiwi cleared his throat, which he only did when he was mocking Aidan himself or if he was nervous. The Irishman inwardly smirked.

“What are you reading Richard?” Dean tried to change the subject and now Aidan couldn’t do anything about it, he had to chuckle quietly. “What?!” Dean asked accusingly whilst he blushed even further and the youngest man only shook his head: “Nothing. What are you reading Richard?”

The actor looked down on the stack of papers and shook his head, “Uh … just a few plays that my agent has given me.”

“You’re going back to the theatre already?” Aidan asked surprised.

Richard shrugged, “Well, not right away but I have to think about it. I do need to eat at some point …”

Dean nodded, “Don’t we all …”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “Stop this pity-talk at once, both of you! Do I need to you remember who scrubs floors for a living?! Jesus …” Aidan sighed dramatically and Dean smirked, “But doesn’t he do a marvelous job, Richard?”

The Irishman laughed at Dean throwing his own phrasing back at him, while Richard nodded and put the plays onto the table in front of them before he took Aidan’s hand in his, “That he does – but not because he sweeps floors so well.” Aidan smiled over at the actor – and he might or might not sport a little blush himself. Dean nodded knowingly before he took a sip of his tea. “Seriously Aidan, I might probably not be sitting here if it weren’t for you …”

“Oh now do shut up …” Aidan sighed – partly joking but partly knowing that Richard probably wasn’t too far off; he had seen the actor at his worst after all – and turned towards Richard, pressing his lips against the actors. “Am I clear?” he smirked as he saw the shocked look on Richard’s face.

“He is very efficient in shutting people up. You better get used to it …” Dean chuckled.

“I had some training with that Kiwi over there … Honestly, he needed a lot more shutting up than you do …” Aidan winked and Richard looked down at their clasped hands: “Pity for me then …”

“Touché” Aidan heard Dean chuckle before he attacked Richard’s lips again. Trailing his tongue along the actor’s lower lip whilst letting his hands run through the re-growing brown hair, Aidan heard Richard sigh before the older man opened his lips and both of their tongues started fighting for dominance. The curly-haired man’s head started swimming and he fisted his other hand in Richard’s shirt. Once both men broke apart again, Aidan grinned: “That’s more like it, if you ask me.” Richard smiled at him, “Seriously though: Thank you for everything, Aidan.” The addressed one only nodded and reached his hand out behind him and squeezed Dean’s as soon as it found his own almost as if on autopilot. Suddenly, Richard’s blue eyes that were previously fixed onto Aidan shifted over his shoulder and without turning around, Aidan knew that they were focusing on Dean. As soon as the blonde shifted closer to the two of them, practically plastering himself against Aidan’s back in the process, Richard let his free hand that was not on Aidan’s side, run through Dean’s hair. “And thank you too, Dean.”

The Kiwi whispered: “Come here …” and afterwards the two men were kissing as well. The Irishman felt Dean’s hand travel over his stomach while he witnessed Dean’s and Richard’s tongues move desperately against each other. “I do like where this is going …” Aidan whispered breathlessly and caressed Richard’s torso while he started placing kisses along Richard’s jawline. The older man moaned throatily so that Aidan could feel his lips, attached to Richard’s neck, tingle. Just seconds later, it was the head of the actor that hit the backrest of the sofa. Whilst Aidan was sucking on the actor’s pulse point, Dean kissed Aidan’s neck, which made the Irishman whimper quietly. Once Aidan let his hand travel down Richard’s surprisingly muscular torso to his upper leg, he felt the actor inhale sharply. The dark-haired head shot up, which caused a slight yelp from Dean. They needed to coordinate themselves better, the Irishman thought briefly, before he asked “Did I do something wrong …?”

Richard chuckled quietly, “No. No you didn’t. I just … I don’t know if things are going that way tonight.”

Aidan wanted to slap himself for his stupidity, “Of course not, I didn’t mean …”

Richard smiled before he placed a quick kiss onto Aidan’s lips, “Shhht! You didn’t do anything wrong.” The actor let his eyes shift over Dean’s form, pressed against Aidan, who still looked rather apologetic at the older man in front of him. Dean had by then stopped the attacks on Aidan’s neck and rested his head against the Irishman’s shoulder, grinning at Richard lazily. “In fact”, the actor continued, “I really enjoyed … this. To learn how the three of us fit together and …”, he chuckled nervously and briefly looked down to where Aidan’s hand still rested somewhere around his groin, “… also how you two interact. It is … I think it is a very erotic sight.” Aidan blushed as well now, while Dean caringly stoke his hand over Aidan’s knee. Richard bit his lip, “But you knew that already, right?”

Dean chuckled and the Irishman felt the blonde nod against his shoulder before he moved in Richard’s direction. “We’re glad you think so …”, Dean said, now running his hand over Richard’s knee, “… and as far as the progress of this evening, or even those following tonight go: Whatever you are comfortable with is fine for us. If it happens, it happens. If not, no problem. Just …”, Dean trailed off to shift closer to the actor, now trailing his hand over Richard’s chest, “… No pressure, okay. Just tell us what you enjoy and what you don’t, alright?” Dean placed a small kiss just behind the actor’s ear, at which Richard let his hand travel up the Kiwi’s neck: “I will. Thank you. …”

The _‘for not pressuring me’_ hung heavily in the air, but Aidan consciously decided that he would ignore it in favor of kissing first Richard and then, after the actor’s low moan and a grin cast into Aidan’s direction by Dean, the Kiwi with full force.

 

 

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, everyone!  
> *places tray with cookies*
> 
> <3

 

The morning after their “make-out”-session – and yes, Aidan called it that deliberately as he had to sneak off into the bathroom afterwards to jerk off, like he had when he had been a teenager – Adam’s name flashed up on Aidan’s mobile.

“ADAM!” Aidan cheered and practically sent Dean to the floor, considering how high the photographer jumped off his deck chair. Rolling his eyes, the Kiwi turned around and waved at Aidan, who spoke Dean well enough to know what to say: “Dean says hi!” The Irishman winked at the blonde and sent Richard into a fit of chuckles and head-shakes. Apparently, he still found their way of communication funny.

“What’s up, mate?” Aidan asked and realized that he had already adopted Dean’s accent yet again, it always happened.

Adam apparently thought exactly the same, at least if his quiet laugh was anything to go by: “Well, as I have finished my last monster of a project, I wanted to know if the invitation to inspect that cottage of yours still stands.”

Aidan immediately broke into a big grin: “Only on one condition …”

“Which is?” Adam wanted to know. Aidan smirked, “You are not going to spend your holiday in Cornwall redecorating our freshly-furnished cottage, alright? It’s called _holiday_ for a reason, Adam.” Aidan emphasized which earned him a thumbs up from Dean and another chuckle from Richard.

Adam sighed mock-dramatically, “But that was the only reason I wanted to come down there! Not because of the sea or the landscape, the air or the company of you … I only wanted to redecorate.”

Aidan scoffed, “Don’t make fun of me; we _know_ you Adam! Do you remember when I invited you over for dinner in my first flat?”

“Yes? What … Why are you reminding me of this?” the Londoner asked confused, which only made Aidan roll his eyes: “You brought the dishes Adam!” Dean laughed out loudly at that and even Richard’s shoulders shook in what looked suspiciously like a laughing fit that he did not dare to commit to.

“It was meant as a flat-warming gift!” Adam exclaimed incredulously, at which Aidan only said, “I invited you for dinner, Adam. Don’t you think I thought about buying dished first?”

“With you, one can never be too sure …” Adam shot back and the Irishman had to admit that he probably wasn’t that far off. “Anyway, what about that _holiday_ of yours Adam? When would you like to visit?”

Happy with the change of topic, Adam replied that he had thought about the next weekend and Aidan said he would get back to him as soon as he had checked with Luke. To secure a room, as it turned out, was no problem at all and so, Aidan settled with Adam that he would pick the interior designer up at the train station on Friday night.

The few days leading up to Adam’s arrival that marked that the half of Aidan’s own stay had already gone by, were spent in a way just like the days since Richard’s arrival had been: Brunching together, then setting out either to go down to the beach, visit some sort of sight where Dean could take his pictures, then return to the cottage and on certain days take their dinner in Luke’s inn before returning to the cottage at a late hour, usually with a few beers in. In another way, Aidan found them to be fundamentally different than the ones before that. Now, he more often than not found himself the recipient of Richard’s smiles, gentle touches or even a quick kiss during the day – well, in addition to Dean’s to which he was more used to. Once he started looking for equal treatment of Dean, he had to admit that he found himself relieved to find them same: Richard’s hand sliding down the Kiwi’s back as he explained something on his camera, a fond ruffle of hair here and a quick join of hands there. The curly-haired man had been a little bit afraid that Richard might only “put up with Dean”, to put it rather blasphemously, in order to be with Aidan. But these doubts were erased one afternoon when Aidan, after he had fallen asleep in one of the deck chairs after a rather tiring hike, had ventured into the kitchen to get himself something to drink. That had been his initial plan. He had however stopped dead in his tracks once his gaze had landed on Dean, half-sitting on one of the kitchen counters, half wrapped around Richard, who looked as if he had melted against him. While Dean’s hands roamed the actor’s broad back, one of Richard’s hands probing himself up on the counter, the other one fisted in Dean’s hair as their mouths moved against in each other in a daze. Aidan had stopped in the doorway, grinning at the scene in front of him. Another man might have been jealous – Aidan had been turned on. If that was better or worse, Aidan did not know nor did he care. After he had looked at the admittedly rather … animating sight in front of him, he had cleared his throat, relishing in the way both men jumped back from each other that had sent Dean almost crashing to the floor. “Uhm I … we …” Dean has started whilst Richard had blushed furiously again, muttering some apology. Aidan had smirked, walked over to the sink to re-fill his glass with water before he had toasted to both of them, “Don’t let me disturb you …” And with that he had made his way out of the kitchen, only shouting a “Do carry on!” back at the two stunned men.

Some of their nights were spent in an equal fashion of heated kisses and touches, others way more quietly. One night, for example, Richard fell asleep on Aidan’s and Dean’s bed whilst reading them some extract of one of the plays he was thinking about doing. Dean had only grinned at Aidan and turned off the light. The Irishman had smiled and tucked himself in next to the actor, Dean doing the same on the other side. The next morning the three of them had woken approximately at the same time in a tangle of limbs, probably because one of them had moved and shaken awake the others in the process. Aidan had never felt so at home as during these precious moments of waking up. Somehow, he had known right there, with Dean’s leg, thrown over Richard’s own that tickled his side and his own hand lazily drawing patterns only known to the two of them on the actor’s back, that this … thing between the three of them would work out. As cheesy as that sounded.

 

The night Adam arrived, admittedly rather late, it was Aidan who picked Adam up at the train station. Both men, after an extensive hug and the start of a tirade on Adam’s part how horrible the day at work had been – “I was afraid I would not be able to come at all, Aid!” – drove in Luke’s car once again to the inn, where Dean and Richard were already waiting. After a brief but warm-hearted re-union with Dean and Richard as well as a proper introduction to Luke, Aidan dragged Adam up the stairs to his room only to drop off his bags because “I’m hungry Adam, you can settle in later!” That particular Friday night was, much to all of their surprise, a rather quiet one. So once Luke had served Adam his salad – Aidan had wrinkled his nose – and Aidan his burger, Luke also drew up a chair to their table and the five of them spend a very pleasurable night full of jokes and animated conversation. The same started with Luke elaborating that he needed to be prepared for the culinary tastes of his newest resident – “No one orders salad around here …” Aidan had almost choked on his beer due to the approaching laughing fit. “Oh my God, Graham would just kiss you after this!” the Irishman exclaimed after his initial roar of laughter. After a questioning eyebrow on Luke’s part, Dean, Adam and Aidan started telling tales of _Durin’s Gold_ and its keeper, Graham. Even Richard chuckled along at one point or another, at which Aidan explained to Dean that they’d met up there one. It didn’t take long for Luke to chuckle along – and set salad as well as white wine onto his shopping list.

“So, I’m afraid that you’ll have to do the whole touristy thing with me yet again …” Adam grinned at Aidan, Dean and Richard almost apologetically after he had finished his salad and the Irishman was about to save his last fries from Dean’s grabby fingers. After stuffing the last three into his mouth at the same time, Aidan smirked at Adam who wrinkled his nose at the sight: “Ah, you know Dean. He will not mind going to the same place a few times as he might have missed an angle he could take a picture of …”

A slap on Aidan’s shoulder was the result he got from his … well, longer boyfriend? Aidan realized how messed up the terminology already was in his head. He fought really hard not to roll his eyes. The blonde smiled kindly at Adam, “Adam dear, I’d love to visit the sights once again with you. Mostly, because you can appreciate beauty – unlike somebody else on this table.”

Aidan only rolled his eyes and waved Dean off. Luke only chuckled, “Seriously, is it just me or does anybody else also wonder how those two have stayed in a relationship for so long?”

Now Richard started to chuckle and looked pointedly down on his glass of wine, while Adam’s gaze wandered over to Luke: “Believe me, we all have asked ourselves the same question.”

Aidan smirked, “Have all of you ever considered that this bickering is something like foreplay for us?!”

Luke coughed into his beer whilst Adam shouted a “Gross Aidan!” In Richard’s defense – he only chuckled. Probably because he knew better. Aidan secretly winked at him whilst Luke finished coughing and Adam was too busy shaking his head to notice anything else.

“As a change of subject is duly needed …” Luke started with a rather rough voice, “… I could also offer to take you to some of the sights. I mean, if you’d like to, Adam. When I can get a few hours away from this …” he gestured around himself towards the bar and, well, practically everything. Adam, too busy to thank Luke for his offer and complaining about them as friends, missed Aidan frowning at the two of them, wheels in his head turning, and Dean bumping his foot onto the Irishman’s under the table, grinning at him knowingly. Richard only crooked his head in an amused manner. This was going to be interesting, Aidan thought …

When the three inhabitants of the cottage finally excused themselves after another round of beers (and a glass of wine for Richard and Adam), Luke had already ventured behind the bar again and Adam stated that he would head up to his room quite soon as well as the train ride had tired him out. Takin a look at his watch, Dean exclaimed, “Well, surprise, surprise. It’s past one in the morning …”

“What?!” Adam and Aidan exclaimed almost at the same time.

Luke chuckled behind the bar, closing all the open tabs, “I guess I’ll tell my boss that I have worked over-time, huh?” Practically the whole inn snorted and about five minutes later, Aidan, Dean and Richard were on their way to the cottage. When they had brought enough distance between their small group of three and the inn, Aidan chirped up: “Do you think Luke will escort Adam into his room tonight and help him settle in?”

Richard chuckled quietly to his left and Dean, on his right only shook his head: “A good friend of Adam would slap you right now … But honestly, I did ask myself exactly the same thing …”

Aidan laughed out loudly at Dean’s sheepish look.

 

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

 

Aidan didn’t even know how it had happened exactly: One minute he was exiting the bathroom to make room for either Dean or Richard so that they could turn in for the night after they had returned from Luke’s inn, and the next one he found himself pinned to the bed, Dean on top of him and Richard panting into his ear. Not that he was complaining. At all.

Aidan closed his eyes and let Dean’s tongue firstly plunder his mouth before he sucked a trail down the curly-haired man’s neck. Sighing heavily, the Irishman had one hand on Dean’s back, fisting in his shirt, and the other one blindly searched onto his right until he found Richard’s shortly cropped hair. A low moan escaped the actor next to him at which Aidan turned his head, at least best as he could with Dean still attached to his neck. Lust clouded his eyes as they fixed onto Richard’s, who seemed a little worse for wear himself. “Do you know how sexy you look?” the actor growled, voice thick with arousal. Aidan felt Dean grin against his neck and about a second later shift one of Aidan’s legs higher onto his side in order to be able to grind his hips down onto Aidan’s groin. It felt as if electric shocks cursed through Aidan’s body and he only then was aware that since they had settled into their agreement with Richard, he and Dean did not have sex either. The Irishman let his head drop back onto the pillows, letting out a long, half-aroused, half-content sigh. He then looked up at Richard and started pulling him closer. When the actor was close enough that Aidan could feel his hot breath tickle his skin, he angled his head up so that both were kissing feverishly as well. The first time one of Richard’s deep moans was swallowed by Aidan’s mouth, the vibrations went down directly to the dark-haired man’s groin – something that did not go unnoticed by Dean. Whilst Richard and Aidan were still kissing as if their life depended on it, Dean pulled back a bit and chuckled an “Interesting” at Aidan’s rapidly hardening cock. If the Irishman wouldn’t have been so busy, he would have slapped the blonde’s head.

After what could have been minutes but also only seconds – Aidan had lost anything resembling a feeling for time – he felt the Kiwi on top of him shift and move towards the actor on Aidan’s right. Peaking one eye open and gazing past Richard’s slightly sweaty forehead, he saw Dean move behind Richard – very wise, as the Irishman concluded, given his quite desperate and … close to finish-state – and trail his hands over the actor’s shoulders. Richard sighed, closed his eyes in bliss and let himself relax into the blonde’s touch, which Aidan used to his advantage. He maneuvered himself over so he lay lined up next to Richard, pressing his whole body against the actor’s. Hopefully he hadn’t felt left out before. Once Dean had fought to get Richard’s shirt off, he plastered himself to the actor’s back in an equal measure as Aidan had to his front. All of a sudden, the youngest of the three men could feel each and every move of Richard as well as Dean, which caused pleasant shivers run down his spine. He hadn’t been that aroused without actually getting his cock out of his boxers for ages. As soon as the Kiwi’s hands sneaked around Richard’s chest, Aidan could hear Dean whisper “Is this okay?” into the actor’s ear. A groan was the only response the two younger men got – but a few moments and ruts against each other later, Aidan looked up at Richard and by extension Dean, with a smirk: “Oh, I do think it is okay Dean love …” The rock hard erection pressing into the Irishman’s leg was proof enough of that. A frown in Aidan’s direction that was only graced with a broader smirk and a quick dart of his dark eyes down into the general direction of Richard’s prick from the Irishman clarified things. Dean grinned as well. Richard stretched his neck and angled his head so that Dean could meet him in a brutal and lustful kiss. As both men moaned out in unison and Aidan could see their tongues darting out and wrestling for dominance, he couldn’t help but whimper a little as well.

Once the two men hovering above Aidan had broken their kiss, the Irishman let his own hand travel over Richard’s naked torso, licking his lips: “What do you want, Richard?” He was surprised by how rough his own voice sounded. Still, the Irishman did not think that the actor would notice – at least if his blown pupils were anything to go by.

“I …” the actor started but moaned again throatily as Dean sucked a bruise onto his neck, “I … don’t know … Just …” Aidan felt Richard, a heavily panting Richard, take his hand and place it onto his still jeans-clad erection. Letting his fingers ghost over the rough material, the actor groaned again even though Aidan was sure that the pressure was barely there. “Well, those jeans won’t do …” Aidan smirked and with that he managed to pull himself out from under the actor and place him back onto the mattress, onto the bed. Both, Dean and he himself took a moment to admire the men who lay there on their bed, skin flushed and slightly sweaty, eyes, dilated, panting, jeans low on his hips and the curve of his hard-on strikingly visual. Aidan grinned up at Dean and both men met in a searing kiss on top of Richard. The actor groaned at the erotic sight and pulled both men down towards him. Aidan chuckled at Richard’s impatience whilst Dean continued to caress the older man’s torso with biting kisses, most of which were directed towards the actor’s erect nipples. As Aidan saw how Richard’s hand fisted in Dean’s unruly mop of hair – the Kiwi almost resembled himself, the Irishman noted in an amused manner – he himself ventured down to the actor’s jeans and popped the button open. Tonguing at the small piece of skin that had been freed in the process, Aidan finally tasted Richard’s salty sweat himself and moaned at the taste. Realizing that his own erection gave quite the interested twitch at the taste and smell of Richard, Aidan scooted a little further down to mouth at the actor’s hardness through his jeans briefly – which caused a shattering moan to fill their bedroom. Whilst Aidan did not want to tease the actor too much and slid the zipper down carefully, noting how the bulge covered by black boxer briefs came into view, before sliding Richard’s jeans down completely, he head Dean whisper “You like that, Richard?” The actor only groaned a “Yes” before Aidan could hear rather than saw the two of them kissing noisily. Once Richard’s jeans were successfully thrown off the bed, Aidan let his hand caress the actor’s erection briefly through the black underwear, feeling the hard flesh beneath his slightly trembling fingertips, before he pulled it down carefully and saw the red cock spring free. Aidan smirked, licked his lips again and took the tip into his mouth. Even though the Irishman had thought that the moan before had been loud, he had to admit that it was nothing compared to this. After his initial cry, Richard apparently pressed his head back into the pillows, one hand fisted in their sheets, the other one presumably somewhere on Dean, and panted noisily as Aidan acquainted himself with the new object of oral work. It was in fact quite different to Dean’s penis; just slightly thinner but longer and less veiny.

“Oh God … OH! Aidan …” the actor started babbling while Dean’s hand flew to his own groin before he met the actor in a bruising kiss. Richard really was rather well behaved; he did his best not to buck up into Aidan’s mouth. Aidan smirked as best as he could around the throbbing member and moaned himself – for good measure and the shiver shaking Richard’s body. After some time where Aidan had put his mouth to good use, if Richard’s panting was anything to go by at least, a hand on the back of his head stopped him. Giving the actor’s erection a last suck, he pulled off and was rewarded for his efforts with a truly debauched looking Richard and a not much better looking Dean next to him. “Kiss me …” Richard breathed barely audible. Aidan scooted up, grinning: “Bossy! I have to say I like this side of you, Mr. Armitage …”

As Aidan and Richard’s tongues met again, Richard moaned once he tasted himself on the younger man’s lips. Aidan’s own hard-on that made for quite an impressive tent in his boxer shorts already, gave an interested twitch. Seeking friction against Richard’s upper leg, Aidan deepened the kiss. He was only vaguely aware of the actor’s hand kneading his back and the hand of the blonde on the other side of Richard letting his hand drop to the erection against the actor’s belly. Once Dean somehow, miraculously, as Aidan would call it later, found his way between the two kiss-wise, they managed to pull off a rather sloppy three-way kiss which was, given their state of non-present coherence, quite the work of art. Only a few seconds later, Richard stiffened beneath them and shouted with each streak of cum that hit his belly. The Irishman’s eyes flew open as he did not want to miss a single second of this moment. And right he was: Richard’s eyes were darting between imaginary points on their ceiling, whilst the actor’s moans that did not seem to cease were somewhere in between pure pleasure and exhaustion from a sheer endless-seeming climax. Aidan came not two seconds later into his boxers whilst Dean brought the hand that had previously caressed Richard to his own hard-on that needed only a few tugs before he came with a strangled “Oh fuck!” himself.

Unaware of the mess they had made, all three men slumped down on the bed, catching their breaths. “Okay … WOW!” was the first thing that Dean muttered. Richard chuckled and nodded lazily, “Wow indeed.” Aidan only patted whatever surface his hand lay on – he thought it to be Richard’s belly – in approval before he got rid of his boxers with one hand, wiped his deflating cock off and immediately drifted to sleep afterwards.

 

The next morning was as it was to be expected: Awkward.

Not awkward because of what they had done – quite the opposite in fact; the three of them met each other’s eyes with knowing looks and small, almost shy grins all morning – but because of the state they had woken up in: Dried cum everywhere, mostly on Richard’s stomach, their hair quite a visual testament of what they had done the night before, each and every one of them at least slightly sore from awkward angles … oh yes, and there was the striking love bite on Richard’s neck. As they had woken up around midday, Aidan had only raised his eyebrows at the bruise that sported a nice coloring of deep purple already; there really was no need to say anything. Dean was mortified, apologized about one hundred times to the actor, who only chuckled and pulled the Kiwi down into a comparably quite chaste kiss. “Don’t apologize …” Richard’s hand cupped the blonde’s face, “As I thought I’d never receive one of those again, I’ll wear it with pride.” Dean started to chuckle at Richard’s playful wink and Aidan grinned smugly as well: “Yeah? I’ll remind you once Adam graces you with one of his scandalized looks …” The Kiwi only groaned and buried his head on Richard’s shoulder as the actor turned his head and kissed Aidan as well after he had moved some of the unruly curls out of the Irishman’s face. The youngest man hummed contently: “Good morning indeed …” Once he let his hand travel over Richard’s chest and came across a dried patch of semen, he started to chuckle: “Also, a note on the side about this whole sex-thing on your part, Richard … I think last night was quite impressive, I mean …” he let his eyes travel over the naked torso that was practically painted with dry cum in front of him. Richard blushed and shook his head, “Might have been due to the fact that I had not had sex this good in quite some time …” Aidan winked and even Dean grinned before he placed a small kiss on the actor’s shoulder. After a few moments of blissful and domestic silence, Richard started to get up: “On that account: Does anybody mind if I take the shower first?” As both Dean and Aidan shook their heads no, the actor got up and moved into their bathroom, shooting the two of them snuggling up in bed again, a last sleepy look and smiled at them. One of his real, joyful smiles before he vanished. Aidan sighed happily and Dean placed a kiss on his cheek. “This was a good idea …” the Kiwi whispered and Aidan nodded slightly, “Yeah … it was.”

 

“This was a terrible idea …” Richard whispered into Aidan’s ear once they’d fallen a bit behind the two men walking in front of them towards the beach. Aidan chuckled quietly, taking Richard’s hand and squeezing it slightly. “I told you so.” They could always justify their staying behind stating they were waiting for Dean to join them. As usual, the photographer stayed a bit behind them. Once again, Adam turned around with a slight frown on his face. “Are you coming?” the interior designer called out, causing Luke to spin around as well, but Aidan only rolled his eyes and mouthed “Dean” while pointing behind him. Adam raised his eyebrow in response but didn’t say anything further. Aidan snickered, his eyes wandering to the blooming bruise on Richard’s neck.

True to his word, Richard wore the love bite with pride, even picking a black V-neck to go with his shorts. The second the three men had met Adam and Luke as they’d agreed to head down to the beach in the afternoon, Adam’s eyes had settled on the actor’s neck. Luke too had glanced once or twice onto the injured patch of skin, but he had a more subtle approach to the whole thing. Still, none of the two had said anything – up to now. Aidan thought it to be hilarious. “DEAN!” the Irishman called out and spotted the blonde kneeling down, zooming in on … _something_ in the grass. A few moments later, the Kiwi hopped up and jogged over to them with a huge grin on his face: “I just caught a ladybug …” he told them. Aidan patted him on the shoulder before he threw his free arm around them. “Awesome love.” Dean rolled his eyes, “I know that deep down, you like my photography …” the Kiwi joked and Aidan grinned: “Maybe you could use that zoom of your camera to locate it …” Richard snickered whilst Dean muttered “Heathen!”

Once the group of men has settled on the beach and everyone except Richard, who had decided on wading into the water up to his waist, had a dip in the sea, it was Luke who had the balls to address the matter – after Adam had thrown accusing glances, mostly to Aidan, as the Irishman had come to notice, at them. “Okay, I am just going to ask: What on earth happened to you neck Richard?” Aidan started to giggle and Dean rolled his eyes, “Took you long enough …”

Richard however only smiled quietly, “Honestly, I cannot tell you exactly myself but … It appears that Dean has bitten me …”

Enter Adam, who finally decided to do something against the dangers of exploding due to unasked questions: “HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW? I mean … WHAT?!!! DEAN! … WHY?!”

Aidan broke into a fit of laughter at his friend’s incredulousness, whilst Richard continued with a simple, “Well, we all were a bit preoccupied …”

Adam threw his hands in the air in a rather questioning manner, but Luke’s eyebrows, that rose beyond the confines of his sunglasses indicated, that he was about to get the hang of it. Dean blushed immensely, reaching out to touch Richard’s arm, “Again, I am so sorry … Usually I don’t … well, do that …” The actor started chuckling, shaking his head, “As I have told you, it’s quite alright …”

Adam crooked his head, still not understanding a thing, even though as Richard cleared his throat. Aidan rolled his eyes. After casting a questioning glance at Dean and Richard, the Irishman pulled his locks into a bun, shooting a blinding smile over to the interior designer: “We were having sex, Adam.”

One could almost see how hard Luke fought the face-palm whilst Adam looked a bit lost. Then, after a few very confused and desperate glances were thrown around between the five of them, Luke’s from behind his sunglasses but the addressed people realized when they were focused upon nevertheless, Adam cried out “WHAT?!!” again, which caused a couple from a few feet over look at them questioningly. Aidan only waved at them. “Sex Adam, I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept …”

At the Irishman’s teasing tone, Adam somehow found his footing again. If ever asked, Aidan would swear that he was doing that to help his dear friend. “Considering my dry spell, I might as well not be … again: What on EARTH are you … I mean …” he started gesticulating wildly between them, “… Dean? Why did you … I … I’m sorry, but I’m at a loss …”

Now that the “worst” part about it was out, Dean found his ability to speak again: “The short version is that – as we all found each other to get along really great, both personality-wise as well as … _otherwise_ – “ Adam scrunches up his nose, “… we decided to give the whole thing a try. Polyamorously.”

 _‘And there goes our coming-out as a poly-couple’_ Aidan thought with a grin. Adam however was not satisfied: “Okay. Good. Congrats. Now the long version please …”

After the three men had taken turns re-telling the most important moments (they remembered) that led up to their relationship, everybody seemed to get a little bit more relaxed about it. Aidan even joked that It really should be Richard telling them everything, as “he has the best narrating voice guys, I’m telling you …” Luke snorted, “Yeah, we can see that …” whilst Adam waved his hand, “Do not change the subject Aidan!” All things considered, the first official declaration of their relationship did go down rather smoothly and Aidan mentally clapped each and every one of them on the back mentally. Once Richard was busy reading one of his plays again and Dean had dragged Adam on a walk down the beach with him, Luke joined Aidan who simply enjoyed watching the waves crashing onto the beach. As the other man started with an “Aidan, can I ask you something …” the Irishman already had a very good idea where this was going. Still, he simply nodded and tried his best to keep his giddiness at bay. Apparently, Luke’s fingernails gained of significant importance in that very moment as they were all the innkeeper would focus on at that moment: “Adam …” he started after quite some time and Aidan inwardly smirked: “Yes?”

Luke cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I was noticing this before but … uhm … he mentioned something of a dry spell. Does this … He isn’t in a relationship right now?”

Aidan finally allowed himself a grin and squinted against the blinding sunlight. Of course he had forgotten his sunglasses. “No, he is not. Had a bit of bad luck with meeting guys, you know?” Luke nodded, apparently deep in thought again. Aidan’s grin widened, “And why, if I may ask, is this of your concern, my dear Mr. Evans?”

The Irishman was pretty sure that the other man blushed – something he had never seen before, “Oh no reason, I just … I was curious, you know? I mean, someone as nice and successful as he is … It’s just hard to imagine I guess …”

Aidan chuckled and slapped Luke on the back, “Make sure to tell him that when you first ask him out, okay?”

“What? … I wasn’t …” Luke immediately started but Aidan interjected his stream of defense with a simple, “Trust me, he is going to say yes.” Before he went back to flop himself down on the towel next to Richard’s.

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

 

Aidan felt Dean stiffen behind him, hand on his chest tightening and quite possible leaving scratch marks and releasing a loud moan that the Kiwi surely had been holding for the last minute. The Irishman smirked, reaching out to caress Richard’s chest in front of him just as he felt the blonde fill him up with his cum.

It was only early morning, but the three of them were already awake and … up to mischief, as Aidan thought with a gleam in his eye. Last night, they had spent way too much time at Luke’s and simply tumbled into bed. Now, however, now was a different story. Early morning grumbles turned into loving touches and caresses, which had turned to lazy kisses, which had turned to not-so-lazy ones and well, now Dean was coming into his ass, to put everything not quite so romantically. There had to be a limit after all.

Aidan saw Richard biting his lower lip while his eyes darted between him and Dean behind him. The Kiwi gave Aidan one last, deep thrust before he pulled out with a heavy sigh. The curly-haired man, in turn, was free to move in towards the actor again while Dean slumped lazily onto the bed. Aidan grinned at Richard, whispering a quiet, “Hey again …” The man lying down on the bed mirrored his smile, also whispering a “Hi” whilst simultaneously running his hand up the Irishman’s side. Shivering at the careful way Richard was caressing him that was so profoundly different to how Dean had grabbed him just moments ago, Aidan moved forward and kissed the actor lovingly. Arousal throbbing between his legs, Aidan made sure not to pay it too much mind – well, he ignored it as best as he could, at least. Still, even though their exchange of numerous languid kisses, it inevitably bumped against Richard’s leg once or twice. After one such bump, the actor pulled away, sighing. “I’m sorry Aidan but …” his glance wandered down to his still brief-clad groin, “It’s just not happening right now.” The Irishman shook his head, grinned slightly and simultaneously thrusting his hips forward so that his erection rubbed over Richard’s taught stomach. “Not a problem for me …” the curly-haired man assured the actor and hoped that it showed that he really meant it. It really wasn’t bothering him; a few strokes of his own hand and he would be done for anyway. Still, he saw that Richard really took the whole thing badly; at least if his resigned sigh was anything to go by.

“Hey!” Aidan said and tipped Richard’s chin up with his hand, “I said it’s not a problem and I mean it, alright?” The man below him was only rolling his eyes, at which it was Aidan’s turn to sigh. Sometimes, he really wished this Lee to cross his way again, so that he could give him a piece of his mind. _‘Not the time to think about that guy, not now anyway’_ , Aidan thought. He sat up, grabbed Richard’s hand and squeezed it. “Richard, Richard, Richard …” he shook his head, “Don’t you know by now that you can make me come with a few more things than your cock?” Richard blushed furiously but at least a small smile fought its way onto his face. Aidan leaned down and kissed him again with just a flick of tongue.

“Actually …”, Dean piped up from where he was lying beside Richard, which had Aidan roll his eyes, “Welcome back Dean.”

The blonde smirked, “Thank you. … As I was saying … Maybe this isn’t so unfortunate after all.”

Richard peeked over, “And why might that be?”

Dean pulled himself up, rather _graciously_ , one might add, and beckoned Richard to sit up so he could slide between the actor and the headboard. Aidan raised his eyebrow mockingly, “And here I was, thinking that you were tired out …”

Dean mirrored his mocking glance, “Har har. I might reconsider instructing Richard in what you like and what you don’t, you ingrate.” After a quick staring match between the two of them, Dean adjusted himself behind Richard, placing a quick kiss on his naked shoulder, “Ready to be instructed in the subtle or not so subtle art of sexually pleasuring Aidan Turner?” Aidan would deny it eternally but at Richard small chuckle his cock gave a little twitch. Seeing those two incredibly attractive men huddled together in front of him probably didn’t help matters either.

At the beginning still a bit hesitant, Richard relaxed visibly again as soon as Dean had placed his own hand over the actors’ and both started stroking Aidan’s still fully erect cock just the way the Irishman liked it: not too quickly and with the occasional twist of hand. No matter how crazy he and Dean had previously gotten in bed – and they really had – Aidan had always liked his hand jobs on the lazy side. He could always tell Dean if he liked the photographer to speed up a little. By now, as he was sitting on Richard’s lap, he simply enjoyed the feeling, throwing his head back and groaning contently. He smiled at the quiet instructions Dean gave Richard, like “And now twist you hand a little …” After Aidan’s probably rather predictable moan, Dean smirked, “Right, that’s it …” A few moments and toe curls on the Irishman’s side later, he really was close. A stutter of his hips apparently told Dean as much, “You getting close Aid?” The curly-haired man only groaned in response and arched his back. “He sounds so sexy …” Richard muttered, probably more to himself, and Aidan’s only thought at that moment was that the man was one to talk. Once Dean had moved their other pair of joined hands to first fondle his balls carefully and then press a finger behind them, Aidan was gone. He quite unceremoniously came in big spurts all over Richard’s hand and both of their bellies: “Oh FUCK! … Shit … AHHH! OH GOD … YES!” Aidan couldn’t do anything about himself slumping down on Richard’s torso, the smeared cum be damned. Even though he thought to be at least as exhausted as Dean had been before, a small chuckle escaped him at Dean’s, “I think you passed Richard …”

 

Dinner brought them a very anxious Adam, whom they invited over. If the giddiness resulted from his uneasiness with their arrangement, to which he needed more adjusting, or if Luke had already asked him out, Aidan didn’t know. Sitting at the table in their garden, however, did bring some clarity … It was the latter (and maybe a little of the further, but definitely more the latter). Halfway through his quiche, Adam sighed dramatically. Dean raised his eyebrow, Richard immediately reached for the bottle of wine and Aidan put his fork down with a little more determination than necessary: “Okay, spill it Adam, what’s up?” The interior designers “I don’t know what you are talking about …” was countered with three pairs of raised eyebrows. Eventually, the Londoner’s resolve crumbled, “I … It’s … Well, Luke’s asked me out.” Richard grinned knowingly and Dean clapped Adam on the shoulder with a “Good for you, man”. As Adam sighed again, Aidan’s blinding grin, which might or might not make him look like a lunatic, faltered slightly, “Okay Brown, spit it out: What’s wrong with that now?”

Adam scrunches his nose lightly, “I am not sure I like that tone of yours …”

The Irishman, after taking a sip from his beer, replied: “Well, I’m not sure I like yours either.”

“Wha…”, Adam started but Aidan interrupted him, “Luke is a great guy; he is nice, he is intelligent and really talented, as that cottage over there proves most impressively, he has his own inn, is grounded and I couldn’t help but notice that he looks pretty hot as well. And apparently, he has the hots for you. So where _on earth_ is the problem?”

“Well you listed just about all of them …” Adam shot back.

Aidan frowned in confusion and motioned towards Dean and Richard, “Anyone help me out? I don’t understand that idiot over there …”

Dean lightly swatted Aidan on the shoulder. “Charming as always … Still, I hate to say that he does have a point Adam. Why’s all this a problem?”

Surprisingly, it was Richard who chuckled quietly, “He’s not too good for you, Adam.” Aidan and Dean’s heads whipped over to the actor whilst Adam stared at him in disbelieve. “Believe me, sometimes things that seem too good to be true … well, are not.” He smiled at the interior designer sitting opposite of him before he shot quick glances towards Aidan and Dean.

The Irishman found himself to be more than stunned: “Okay, Richard, we’re talking about this later … Seriously, if that Lee-person ever crosses my way again, I cannot guarantee what I am going to spit in his face. And I don’t care how much taller than me he is …” Richard chuckled and Dean met his eyes over the table with a loving look in his eyes. As much as Aidan would have loved to stand up and cuddle Richard, that had to wait until later. Now, it was Adam’s turn: “And you, Adam Brown! Whatever would make you think that you’re not worth somebody like Luke?”

Adam scoffed, “Well, due to the points you just laid out so eloquently … plus the misery of a dating-history I have on my back …”

Aidan shook his head, “And how was that your fault, Adam?” Dean only nodded along, having stuffed his mouth just with another fork of their quiche, “Yeah, you couldn’t do anything about the fact that there were a few … well, honestly, a few losers amongst them.”

“Your reasoning is lacking, Dean. At some point I have agreed to go on a date with them …” Adam replied. Aidan interjected though, “You did because you always see the best in people.” The interior designer raised his eyebrow in a very mocking fashion but Aidan did not back out, “I am serious. Look at me? Who else would have taken a badly-smelling Irishman who has slept the last two weeks in train stations in?”

Adam crocked his head, “I only did it because I thought you were cute …”

Dean and Richard chuckled, but Aidan waved his fork at Adam accusingly, “As I have not had a shower for at least two weeks at that point, I would say that that just was a blatant lie, Adam.” The addressed one shrugged but a small smile played on his lips, which was quickly replaced by that frown that the Irishman did not like at all: “But why me? I mean, look at him … He is so … well, hot.” Aidan and Dean snickered and Richard only grumbled a “Cannot argue with that …”

Adam nodded enthusiastically, “See? So why would he chose someone as … unspectacular as me?”

Now it was the Irishman sighed audibly, “Ungh! Adam! If by unspectacular you mean that you do not have three heads, I would say this is a good thing …”

Adam rolled his eyes, “He mentioned that his last boyfriend was a model, Aidan!”

The curly-haired man nodded along, “Yeah. I knew that. I also know that the model has not only attempted to make something or rather somebody he was not out of him, but also cheated on him repeatedly. I think at least now Luke sees past the exterior, that in your case, Adam, is not half-bad. For Christ’s sake!”

Adam looked sheepishly at Aidan, “Now, now! You don’t want to make those two boyfriends of yours jealous, do you?”

Dean only shrugged, “He’s not wrong, you know …”

At Adam’s almost shy grin, Aidan couldn’t help himself. He hurried over and hugged his friend from behind as hard as he could. “Aids … ungh! Aidan!” Adam complained mockingly, but chuckled into the curly-haired man’s upper arm. “You are awesome, Adam. Never forget that!” Aidan whispered and pecked his friend on the cheek. “And once you’re done eating dinner, you get over to that inn and tell Luke you’ll do whatever he wants the two of you to do, okay?” Adam’s “Yeah …” was barely audible. Dean grinned at the two of them, as did Richard. “Oh, don’t you smile like that, Rich … Once I’m done here, you’re next …”

 

 

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

 

“You know, at some point, we have to talk about this …”

Aidan could not believe that he was the voice of reason at the moment. Well, at least he thought he was. Yesterday evening whilst sitting in front of the cottage, they had realized that Richard would have to go back to London in a few days already. This trip had been planned as a friendly visit after all. And even though the two of them had offered that he could stay as long as he liked, Richard said that his parents as well as his brother had announced they would pay him a visit in London – and he needed to get in touch with his agent as well. Which was understandable of course. Pointless blabbering about them staying while Richard returned to London turned to the fact that quite soon – too soon for Aidan’s liking – Dean would have to go back to New Zealand. And then he and Richard would remain in London – together. Just like Dean and him would be staying just another week in Cornwall without Richard. This triggered questions … questions Aidan would like to discuss.

Dean chuckled, “Do we?” he asked mockingly whilst launching on one of the deck chairs casually.

Aidan rolled his eyes whilst running his hand up and down Richard’s leg on his left. He had plopped onto the second chair, already occupied by Richard, once he had come outside with a cup of coffee. “Yes, we do. Otherwise I’ll be jumpy all of the remaining holiday and even afterwards and that literally helps nobody …”

Richard chuckled, book finding its way onto the floor beside the deck chair, looking expectantly at Aidan. “Well, propositions?” the actor asked after a few moments of silence, “Because I have zero experience with this.”

Dean shrugged – very helpful. Aidan sighed, “Okay, I am going to start – definitely being the most mature one in our little gathering.” Dean snorted, at which the curly-haired man cast him a pointed look. “What I am concerned about is … not the week Dean and I are spending here alone but … you know, the time when Richard and me _are living in London together_. Like, months without you Dean. What are we going to do then?” Aidan took a sip of the coffee and let his eyes wander to the horizon where the deep blue of the sea met the much lighter blue of the morning sky.

“Alright …” Dean said and pulled himself into a sitting position so he could face the two other men. “Let’s talk about this. I am not going to pretend that it will be a possibility that you two won’t get it on from time to time. Or that you won’t spend time together. And, as I would like to emphasize, nor would I want you to refrain from either. Not on my account at least …” The blonde smiled at them.

“But …” Aidan started, “… doesn’t that seem wrong … somehow?” Richard only hummed.

Dean however just continued grinning, “Okay, let’s do a little thinking game, Aidan okay? Sorry to exclude you from the discussion for a moment Richard.” The actor only waved dismissively at the two of them. Dean fixed his gaze on Aidan, “Remember when we met Hugo?” Aidan nodded and Dean mirrored his action, “Okay. And we had discussed that both of us were okay with entering a poly-relationship with him, right?” Aidan sighed, “Is there a point to all of this now?”

Dean only chuckled in response, “Always the impatient one. Okay, I’ll get to the point then. You were aware that Hugo was from Australia and I lived in New Zealand, right?” A nod from the Irishman. “And you were aware that the two of us would have been able to meet on a much more regular basis than the two of us would ever be able to. Or you and Hugo, for that matter.” Another nod. Dean grinned, “Right, so now the million dollar question: Would you have asked of us to not see each other because you were almost on the other end of the world?” Aidan sighed; Dean once again was right. “Of course I wouldn’t have.”

Dean nodded contently, “See. Same here … AND: There is Skype, so I might be able to … well, partake at least in some way. To which I am looking forward immensely, I have to say …”

Aidan raised an eyebrow, “And why might that be?”

Dean smirked, “I am a photographer, Aidan. I am practically a voyeur by definition.”

That had Richard laugh out loudly – and Aidan chuckle as well – before the actor joined the discussion once again: “And, if that hadn’t become clear before: The same accounts for the week or so you are spending here without me. Of course it’s okay if you have sex …” Aidan smiled at Richard and Dean winked at him sheepishly. “More so because … Well, you should take your chances while you get them, Aidan …”

Dean sighed where he sat on his deck chair; which was exactly what Aidan had been about to do. So the Irishman got up and kneeled in front of Richard. “We really have to work on that, you know?” before he ran his hand up Richard’s arm and kissed the actor lovingly. “This sole focus on sex is ridiculous …”

“Quite right …” Dean emphasized and walked over as well, “Do you not see how great and strong you are, Rich?” The actor smiled at the sudden use of nickname, but otherwise looked down on the floor beneath Aidan’s knees. “Seriously Richard, who on earth put that idea in your head that everything that’s loveable about you is … excuse my phrasing on this one, is your erect prick? If you ask my humble self it is that very person who has a problem, not you.”

Dean patted Aidan on the back from being settles behind Richard, “Well said, Aidan. And I have to say that you are absolutely right.”

Richard sighed, “I guess … well, I guess I grew up differently than you did. Back ... back in the days, it really was solely having sex.” Richard inched his head, “Well, fucking, I’d rather call it. And if you were lucky, you got a relationship out of it. It’s … it’s different nowadays. Well, at least sometimes it is.”

Aidan looked up at the actor mockingly, “If you start on you being old now, I swear to God …” Thankfully, Richard chuckled and Dean pecked his neck. “Seriously, we had to … fuck quite a few frogs ourselves before this.” Dean said as he extended his hand to Aidan, who took it with a grin. “Yup, definitely a few frogs. A few terrible ones. Monster-like. We’re talking _Shape of Water_ here …”

The triggered a full body laugh of Richard and Aidan concluded the worst was banned. At least for the moment. “Besides, do I really have to remind you of the mess we had to clean up just three nights ago?” The actor continued chuckling whilst a small blush was creeping into his cheeks. Dean nodded, “Terrible. I thought we had to burn the sheets to get rid of the evidence.” Richard nodded, “I think I get the point …”

 _‘Finally_ ’, Aidan thought.

 

 

“Okay, seriously … is it just me or does this seem over the top for anybody else?” Aidan whispered over his stew. Dean shook his head, burying his spoon in his own bowl, “Please tell me we were never like that …” Aidan snorted, “We might ask Adam but he might be biased …” Richard shook with quiet laughter next to Dean: “Maybe this is payback for the love bite.” At that, Aidan and Dean burst into laughter, which caused the two men at the bar look over to them questioningly. It was a nice change, Aidan thought, as both had been making gooey eyes at each other over the bar for the whole evening – which practically was a miracle, considering the fact that Luke had to wait. By the looks of it, the first date of Adam and Luke had gone well. Really well. And as sickening as the hearts flying out of both of their eyes that were gravitating towards each other were, Aidan was ecstatic for the interior designer. Adam deserved a bit of happiness more than anyone …

Being a good friend, who absolutely wasn’t nosey, Aidan still inquired about their date once Adam decided to come over with his glass of wine and the beer Aidan had asked to bring for him. “It was really nice …” Adam said, leaving the three other men at the table wait in anticipation. As no further elaborations followed, Aidan harrumphed, “Okay, no. You have been standing over there, leaving me waiting for my beloved beverage for _ages_ , to eye-fuck our bartender. You owe us more than it was really nice …”

 

Adam, visibly disgusted by Aidan’s choice of words, protested, “You had to wait for maybe ten minutes”, Aidan snorted, “… and I did no such thing. You are exaggerating, as usual.”

Dean raised one eyebrow, “Seriously Adam, it was kinda intense.”

The interior designer’s face fell, “Oh my God … too obvious?”

“I think Luke didn’t notice as he was staring back the same way at you”, Richard tried to ease the tension but Adam got only more horrified, “Stared?! Oh dear …”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “The date Adam, get to the date …”

“Fine. Since you asked so nicely …” the interior designer rolled his eyes, “Well, we went for dinner, then had drinks and then went back here. Nothing out of the ordinary …”

Dean frowned, Richard raised his eyebrows. Aidan, however, was not so subtle in his approach. Maybe because he knew Adam the longest: “Bullshit!” Quite a few head in the inn turned, including Luke’s at the bar. The Irishman only waved at everyone who decided to grace them with their looks. “Adam Brown, I have seen _nothing out of the ordinary_. I have seen better than _nothing out of the ordinary_. I have even seen _I think I want to spend my life with that guy_ once. In none of these instances have you beamed like today. So, I ask again:” Aidan put on the sweetest voice he possessed: “How did your date go, Adam?”

Adam sighed audibly. When he looked back up from their table again, he had the biggest smile on his face. Aidan found it to be sickeningly sweet and hence matched the looks the two men were just giving each other. To say he was intrigued would have been an understatement. “Between the dinner and the drinks …” Aidan looked intently at the interior designer during his dramatic pause, “… Luke took me to a vintage flea market.”

Richard, bless his soul, only raised his eyebrows yet again, not being familiar with Adam like Dean and he himself were. The blonde Kiwi let his head sink, chuckling with silent laughter, while Aidan burst out into the probably most hysterical laughing fit he ever had. And whilst Adam looked at him as accusingly as never before – and if that didn’t mean something – Luke hollered an “Oi, what now?!” over to them. Aidan only extended his hand in a gesture of a fist-bump and kept laughing. Once he had caught his breath at least slightly again, he staggered over to the bar, patting Luke’s arm. “Seriously, that move was genius man. Now you’ve got him like, for eternity.” Luke smiled, “That was the general idea.”

Aidan shot Luke the most blinding grin. Of course he knew that Luke was serious about the whole thing – otherwise he would never have suggested that he should date Adam. If there was something the interior designer was not fond of, it was one-night stands. Well, those and paper napkins, even though the comparison was a though one. Still, a man needed to say what a man needed to say – so he did: “I really hope this thing between the two of you works out, you know.” The innkeeper grinned slightly and nodded, “Me too. … But you’re not giving me the whole ‘If you hurt my friend’-speech, are you?” the Welsh aimed at a joke. Aidan only shook his head, “Absolutely not. Adam’s my friend, yes, but by now, so are you. Which is why I’d hate to pick sides, that’s all I’m saying.” Aidan winked and Luke nodded, “I’d hate that too.” Aidan reached over the counter and patted Luke’s shoulder before he made his way back to their table where Adam sat and cast him a horrified look: “What did you say to him?!” The Irishman sat down with a determined look, “I told him that if he ever shatters one piece of your royal porcelain, I’ll track him down and kill him with one of your portable shelves.” Adam examined Aidan’s face as if he wanted to know if he was joking or not, whilst Dean wrinkled his forehead, “I am trying to figure out of that was metaphorical speech or not …” Adam looked over to the Kiwi, “I was thinking the same thing. And I don’t know which option would be worse …”

This time, the whole table erupted in booming laughter.

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

 

The next day brought them rain.

Rain that all the locals were practically ecstatic about as it had not rained for a few weeks, as Dean knew as well. Still, it meant that Richard, Dean and Aidan were practically confined to their cottage. Of course, Adam had called them in the morning and told them that Luke had hired an aid for the day and that they – _they_ as Aidan had noted with glee – were going to a town nearby where they held an exhibition of some kind. And even if Dean’s eyes came alive with gleam and anticipation at the sheer mention of the word “exhibition”, he waved at Aidan, who had his phone on speaker, dismissively. So, Aidan declined, not without thanking Adam to think of them, and hence, they had the day to themselves.

“It was very chivalrous of you to let the exhibit pass only to give them more quality time …” Aidan remarked, once they were lounging on the big sofa in the living room with Richard on a mismatched stuffed chair to their left. The actor turned his head, “Chivalrous …?” he asked with a grin before he took another sip of his tea. Aidan smirked, “Yep, chivalrous. That’s our Dean …” The blonde only rolled his eyes at that.

All three sets of eyes wandered over to the television to which they had connected Dean’s laptop so they could watch some Netflix. “Another one?” the Kiwi asked but Aidan shook his head. “Enough S.H.I.E.L.D. for one day … also, I think we should be taking pity on Richard …”

Dean snorted while he walked over to disconnect the laptop. “Now who’s being chivalrous?” Dean teased while Richard only raised his hands, “I never said I didn’t like it …” Aidan winked and leaned back on the sofa as Dean already started snuggling up to him again. After a few moments of pleasant silence, Dean sighed. “What do we do now?”

Aidan shrugged, something only Richard could see but he was sure that Dean felt it. The Irishman frowned but suddenly, he had an idea. “We could play some game. You know, something like _Never have I ever_ …” Richard looked a bit alarmed at first, which changed to slightly relieved once Dean groaned, “I hate _Never have I ever_!” Aidan sighed, “I didn’t mean that particular game … but something similar. Like … whatever, _Truth or Dare_ , or some drinking game or something …”

“It’s barely even noon”, Richard replied a bit incredulous at which Aidan only smirked, “That has never stopped me before …” The actor chuckled and shook his head, “I don’t know if that is such a wise idea …”

The curly-haired man smirked, “You can answer all of our questions. Then you don’t need to have a single drop of alcohol …”

Richard rolled his eyes, albeit fondly, and Dean snorted, “Don’t let him fool you, Rich. It’s not about the alcohol; he’s just nosy …”

Aidan harrumphed, “Pah! Nosy … I would just like to get to know you better …” The Irishman could practically feel Dean roll his eyes, “Of course you do.”

Richard chuckled and straightened in his chair, “Well, it would only be you two interviewing me then would it?” At Aidan’s (and probably Dean’s – they really needed to alter their sitting positions) frown, the actor elaborated, “Well, you two obviously know everything about each other …”

“Oh-ho-ho! Do not say that Mr. Armitage!” Aidan exclaimed and sat up straighter on the sofa. “Last time we played this, I think it was when I last was in New Zealand over Christmas, I found out that Dean had yet to tell me that he had been to the Wellington leather scene …”

“OH my GOD! That again … I told you about a million times that it had been Dave’s birthday party. I had no idea where we would be going …” Dean whined. And it was true, Aidan had mentioned the party in question quite a few times. Not because he was jealous or anything, but just to tease Dean. Which obviously still worked. Richard chuckled as well and mumbled a quiet “I see …”

“So, game. Yes?” Aidan smirked and after a few seconds of hesitation, Richard sighed and nodded whilst Dean hauled himself up and set out towards the kitchen: “I’ll get the wine …” Aidan clapped his hands excitedly, “Great. And bring some crisps or something as well, Dean dear. We would not want to start drinking without having eaten first.” That had the actor chuckle and shake his head. “How responsible”, Richard teased Aidan nodded before he blew a kiss over to the actor sitting on the chair.

Once they had started the game, it all began really light. A few childhood-stories, food preferences and some horrid tales of the start of dating were exchanged, in between a few sips of wine each, just like when Aidan had played this game when he had been much, much younger. Both, Dean and himself almost fell off the sofa from laughing as Richard told them a story about the time when he found himself locked in a church when he was about seven. Even though the actor told them that “It’s not funny, I was terrified” he quite soon started chuckling himself after a little while. Probably quite predictably, talks soon ventured to the topics of coming-out and such. Aidan of course already knew about the day, or rather night, a twelve year-old Dean walked into his parent’s bedroom, woke them up at around three in the morning and declared that he had a very strong feeling that he was gay. “That’s just fine son”, his father had said, “… now go back to sleep. There’s still enough time to be gay tomorrow.” From time to time, they would ask if he still believed he liked boys, which he always confirmed. Then, as he brought home anther guy from school one day, his father actually was the first to clap him on his back and drink a bottle of beer with him. Richard’s coming-out, in turn, was a bit more along the classic lines surrounding such an event – not unlike Aidan’s own, as the Irishman noted: His mother had found him with a boy from his class, making-out during a study session that lasted longer into the night then any study session should. In contrast to Aidan’s family, however, Richard’s parents had come around in time. They were not thrilled at first, but soon they did not mind in the slightest anymore. Aidan smiled rather sadly: “Well, as I have already told that delightful story of my own, I trust your next question for me isn’t about my own coming out, is it?” The Irishman witnessed Richard bite his lip but Dean smiled at him, “You should be starting a business as a fortune teller, seriously Aidan. No, I wonder … who was your first crush? Not the first boy you made out with or something, I mean _first_ first.” Aidan blushed, and furiously so. “I’ll drink …” he said and reached out for his glass, but Dean snatched it away from him. “Jesus Christ, this is serious, isn’t it?”

“Give me the glass …” Aidan complained, but Dean would hear none of it, “Was it a girl? That’s quite normal, you know …”

Aidan rolled his eyes, “No, it was not a girl. And it is against the rules of the game to snatch away somebody’s drink, if I may say so …”

But now, Richard as intrigued as well, “Come on Aidan, who? A teacher?”

“I regret suggesting this already … no, it was not a teacher.” Aidan sighed dramatically, but Richard continued, “It cannot be a friend, you would tell us. So, what’s left? An older brother of a friend? … A father?” Aidan groaned as Richard pressed on and threw his arm over his eyes, “Please, just give me my drink!” Suddenly, Dean slammed his hand down on the sofa between the two of them: “It was a priest, wasn’t it?”

“Just kill me now!” the curly-haired man exclaimed dramatically, whilst Dean and Richard laughed out loudly at first. Then, Aidan felt a hand pat his knee. “That’s also not uncommon Aids”, Dean said soothingly, but added, “Although I have to say that I am a little surprised by that.”

As the Irishman refused to look at either of them, he felt Dean snuggle closer to him. “How did he look? Was he very handsome?”

“He must have been …” Richard added and as his voice seemed by far closer than before, Aidan peeked out from under his elbow to see he kneeled in front of the sofa now, “… if he caught Aidan’s attention.”

Finally, the Irishman sighed and took his arm down, “I was thirteen and stupid. That’s what I was … But yes, I thought that he was very handsome. And very nice. You know, approachable. Maybe also because he always accompanied us pathfinders to our camps …”

“Uhhh! Pathfinder camps. What happened there?” Dean giggled but Aidan only shot him a glare. “We catalogued plants and animals and learned how to build a campfire. That was about it. Sorry to disappoint you and your porn fantasies. Also, what part about I was THIRTEEN didn’t you understand?”

Dean chuckled and pecked him on the cheek. “I think it’s adorable. Isn’t that adorable?”

Richard chuckled and took Aidan’s hand, but didn’t say anything. Aidan sighed, “I’m not even sure if it was even a crush. I mean, yes, looking back it probably was but back then, I wasn’t even aware that you could harbor romantic feelings for another man. Boy. Whatever.” Aidan shook his head, “I mean, sure, I knew that there were men who loved other men. But those were sinners and were going to hell. That’s what I heard day in and day out and of course you think that it is nothing that would ever happen to you, you know?”

Dean pulled him closer by the waist, “Of course not.”

The curly-haired man nodded, “And I just wanted to please him, you know? I wanted to impress him with my herb collection and my camping skills, as stupid as that sounds. It was only much later that I realized that what I felt for him was … well, to call it love would be stupid as well, but that I had a crush on him.”

After a moment of silence, Dean sighed, “I wish I could see your herb collection …”

Aidan snorted, “If you’re on about euphemisms again, I swear to god …”

Richard chuckled but squeezed his hand, “I would love to see it too, actually.”

“Right?” Dean asked intrigued. “I just … Imagining a young you, wandering around in the woods, collecting many, many plants just to impress your crush really is beyond cute.” Aidan snorted, but Richard nodded, “He is right. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see it …”

And didn’t Richard speak the truth. Quite frequently, Aidan was telling some story from his past, wanting to finish a tale with “I’m sure there is a picture of this, I’ll show you the next time” or “I’ll bring the herbarium along” only to realize a second later that those things were all left behind for good nowadays. Still, he didn’t want the mood to go down thanks to him and his past yet again, so he posed the next question: “Alright, now that you know about my embarrassing little crush I am going to ask … Dean.” The same hummed at his side and Aidan, in turn, let the hand that was not captured by Richard up and down the photographer’s side. “Hmmm … Alright Mr. Photographer: What – I deliberately don’t ask who – would you be curious about shooting but equally terrified of.”

Richard hummed, “Good question …” Then he sat down next to the sofa, still caressing Aidan’s hand. The curly-haired man smiled at the actor and squeezed the hand in his own.

Dean pondered the question for a moment, a moment in which Aidan and Richard exchanged curious glances, before he asked in return, “I have a question: Would the pictures have to be fit for display? In an exhibit?” Aidan bit his lip, “Not necessarily, no.” He grinned, “Why? What is it?”

If the Irishman wasn’t mistaken, a light blush dusted the blonde’s cheeks, “Alright. I hope this does not make me a creep – but if it does, at least I’m an honest one.” Aidan raised his eyebrows in question: “I have often thought about the idea of taking pictures of a couple – any couple – while they’re having sex. I mean real sex, not porn sex.” The Irishman crooked his head and looked at Dean, grinning, whilst Richard started to sport a similar blush like the Kiwi did. “But I have equally often thought about how on earth that would be possible, who would let me do that et cetera et cetera. Where would I position myself so I wouldn’t disturb them blah blah.”

Richard nodded, “What’s the interesting part for you in this?”

Aidan smiled and looked expectantly over at the blonde: “I guess … I want to know if they look any different.”

“Different than where?” Richard inquired further and Dean smiled, “Different because they’re so vulnerable in that moment. They’re the most open, without the usual barriers one builds up due to day-to-day interactions, to protect oneself. I want to see if people would look differently without them.”

Richard smiled and Aidan nodded, “Good answer. Very good answer.”

Dean bowed slightly and scrunched up his nose, “Okay, next question … for Richard.” The actor sighed, “Of course.” Dean grinned, “Yes, of course. Soooo … Aha, yes. Richard!” Dean exclaimed triumphantly and the actor sighed, “Oh dear … I might get my glass of wine …”

“Ah ah ah! Nope. This is actually a useful question. I mean, for further developments. So: What’s your secret sexual phantasy?” Aidan nodded, “Oh yes! Good one.”

Richard, however, did not share both of their enthusiasm as he blushed even more furiously than he already had before. “I’ll drink” he said but Aidan intercepted, “Not a chance! Come on Rich, would you really want to waste a sip with this? I mean, at some point, it’s going to come out anyway …” Seeing the actor crouching miserable on the floor, Aidan rolled his eyes, “It cannot be worse than thirteen year-old me crushing on a roman-catholic priest! So, spill!”

Richard let go of Aidan’s hand so he could run both of them over his face, “You wanna bet?”

Aidan chuckled and Dean straightened a little, “How about we make a deal: If you tell us now, Aidan and me … or either of us, that depends of course, will do our utmost to make it come true. Tonight.” Aidan nodded, but Richard only seemed to shrink further into himself, “This is terrible!”

“No it isn’t … I’m sure it isn’t”, Aidan tried to encourage the actor, “As long as your fantasy does not involve murder, we can talk about everything.”

Richard sighed but finally let his hands sink to the floor: “Okay. But … don’t laugh.” Dean shook his head vehemently and Aidan zipped his mouth shut. He could not help his brain from working though. What had the other man so embarrassed? It couldn’t be something “common” like BDSM. Was it diapers? Food?

Aidan’s train of thought that ventured into the realm of unicorns was interrupted by Richard finally speaking up: “Alright. I … Oh Christ, okay: I would like to watch … both of you. Having sex.”

Aidan frowned in confusion whilst Dean looked from Richard to the Irishman and then back to Richard: “Us?” The actor nodded.

“Having sex? Like what? I mean, doing what?” Aidan wanted to know.

Richard only blushed further, “Ever since I accidently heard you I … I just cannot get it out of my head. It turned me on so much I could barely …”

“Wait. That’s it?!” Aidan exclaimed. At Richard’s nod, the Irishman gaped a little: “Okay. Wow. … To say I expected differently would be an understatement. During your dramatic pause, my mind was gravitating towards unicorn costumes Richard …”

Dean laughed out loudly whilst the actor raised an eyebrow. Then Dean stated, “Well, as flattering as that is – and it is – I am almost certain that what you imaged was something totally different than we did. I mean, we didn’t do anything too special, did we?” Aidan shook his head.

Richard sighed, “That isn’t necessary. Just how you sounded … It was …” he blushed, “It was as if you knew exactly what you were doing, exactly which buttons to press. And it was so erotic, just the sound of it that I … I have wondered about it ever since”, the actor admitted sheepishly.

Dean nodded, “Okay. Good. … We can totally have sex tonight, can’t we, Aids love?”

“Absolutely”, Aidan chuckled and Richard groaned, “You really don’t … You don’t have to do this …”

“Have sex? Why ever not?” Aidan asked and Dean nodded, “Not a hardship at all, I would say. Just … I mean, if we do it somewhat resembling the last time, that time you heard us, it’s not going to be too extraordinary …”

“EXCUSE ME?!!!” Aidan asked dramatically, hand flying to his chest. “Not extraordinary?! Who came twice the first time we had sex in here? AND the times we slept together in Luke’s inn back when we had to stay there and condemned our poor innkeeper to wear headphones all night?”

Richard chuckled whilst Dean rolled his eyes, “I meant in terms of kinky, for crying out loud. Rich, FYI: Aidan and me usually keep it pretty basic. Not that we wouldn’t be willing to try differently …”

The actor almost whined, “Where has this conversation gone …?” whilst Aidan muttered mock-annoyed: “Pretty basic, I’ll give you pretty basic …”

 

Though a few hours later, Aidan had to admit that it had been some time until Dean and him had done something _out of the ordinary_ – like for example having a third person watch them whilst they were getting it on. It was about four in the afternoon and the two of them were writhing on the bed, still in their boxers but making-out heavily. Richard, on the other hand, was sitting at one of their flimsy little chairs, watching. It had taken some time to convince the actor that they did not mind the slightest bit if the actor watched them – and no, they did not think him to be a creep. Apparently, their little show worked as they heard a quiet gasp from their table, but Aidan did not dare to look over.

The three of them had discussed this: Dean and he himself would be having sex as if Richard wasn’t there. They would settle on the bed somewhat diagonally and upside down, so the actor had the best view, but otherwise, they would be doing whatever they felt up to at the moment. Their “spectator” didn’t have any further requests. Aidan sighed lustfully and pressed his head back onto the mattress as Dean sucked on his neck and simultaneously stroke his groin. “Dean …” the curly-haired man whined after a few more moments, where he felt his dick harden even further. The blonde stopped the attacks on his neck and grinned, “You ready baby?” Aidan only moaned as Dean dragged his hand down to cup his balls leisurely. Grabbing the bottle of lube after getting a very flustered Aidan out of his boxers, Dean started caressing the Irishman’s pucker playfully, drawing further sighs from the dark-haired man lying on the bed. Once Dean inserted a single finger, Aidan cried out in pleasure, fisting his hand in his own hair “Oh my God … Oh! Oh yes …” He could feel Dean smirk against his ankle where he placed a single kiss before bit his skin playfully. “Ready for another?” Still with his eyes closed, Aidan nodded and bit his lip. With a bit more lube thrown in, Dean inserted a second finger and Aidan cried out in pleasure.

By the time Dean had worked in three fingers, leaving Aidan a sweating mess on the bed, suspicious pants were coming from the direction of their table. Still, neither of them dared to look over as they didn’t want to disturb Richard’s fantasy. The two men on the bed kissed lovingly; then Dean asked: “Ready for me, Aid?” The Irishman groaned and pressed down on the fingers torturing his prostate and nodded exhaustedly. “Yeah … Dean please …” The blonde chuckled, pulled his briefs down and quickly lubed his angrily-red member before he pushed in carefully. Aidan moaned out loudly and hence wasn’t quite sure if Richard had done the same in that very moment. He would have to ask Dean later. Maybe he had been more perceptive. Looking at the sweaty man now fully seated in him though, the Irishman doubted it. “Ready babe?” Dean asked between heavy breaths. Aidan smirked, “Come on, move already …” Once he did, Aidan lost it completely. Maybe it was due to the fact that their foreplay had been quite extensive – not unheard of, but generally it was a little quicker – because they hadn’t had sex in a few days or because Richard was there, but as soon as Dean started his at first rather careful thrusts, the dark-haired man fell into a lust-filled haze. Between fleeting glances at a most gorgeously sweating Dean, swarms of electric sparks rushing through his body at each thrust against his prostate and the hands of his lover running down his legs he did forget everything around the two of them. Only when a shattering moan echoed from the walls of their bedroom, Aidan’s eyes focused on the man sitting at their table, quite flushed himself, one hand inside his sweatpants and head thrown back whilst panting heavily. At that sight, Aidan’s erect cock that lay flush against his belly gave a violent twitch. The Irishman growled and drew one of his legs back to give Dean better access, “Dean … Dean please, I need to come …” That bastard had the nerve to wink at him before he started pounding into him, drawing a pathetic little whine from Aidan with each thrust. Quite soon, the curly-haired man’s hands that lay on Dean’s sides tightened before his whole body shook with a most intense orgasm. The Kiwi had to thrust twice more into Aidan’s by then limp body before he cried out as well as he filled Aidan up with his cum.

For quite some time there was only panting of the three men audible in the bedroom – at least before Aidan started giggling. “What?!” Dean croaked, head nestled on Aidan’s chest and the Irishman’s legs still thrown over the blonde’s shoulders (and really, Aidan thought he deserved a yoga award for this). “I just thought what lovely acoustics out bedroom has …” Aidan smirked, fingers curling in Dean’s sweaty hair, eyes opening and wandering over to Richard on the chair, “Won’t you agree Richard?” The predictable growl had Aidan laugh out loudly again.

 

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

 

The days leading up to Richard’s departure passed much too soon for the three of them and before they knew it, Dean and Aidan found themselves on the platform of the small train station, biding the actor goodbye. Admittedly, they hadn’t discussed the “mechanics” of them saying good-bye to each other – as there really had never been the need to do so beforehand – but once the three of them were standing awkwardly next to each other on the platform, Aidan thought that it might have been a good idea to do so.

Since his hasty departure from Ireland, Aidan had never bothered to hide who he was. So it really hadn’t been a question that he would be kissing Richard good-bye right there, on the platform. Families or prudes potentially standing next to them be damned. Still, once they were standing in that very place, Richard’s back to the already arrived train and Dean and he himself facing him, Aidan got the impression that they should have discussed this. Two men kissing in a train station, okay – but two different men kissing the third one, one after the other was a kind of different story. And whilst Aidan knew that he himself would not care about the other people on the platform – and neither would Dean, he was sure of it – he simply couldn’t be certain if Richard would be opposed to it or not. Somehow, it felt as if he had started dating again, he mused amusedly. And it certainly seemed like it, the three of them grinning awkwardly at each other.

It was Dean who was brave enough to take the first step; he simply laid his hands on the actor’s upper arms, got onto the tip of his toes and placed a caring but not too-flashy kiss onto Richard’s lips before he pulled him into a hug. “Have a good trip … and call us once you’re in London, okay?” Richard nodded, arm slung firmly around Dean’s back, nodding into the embrace. Then, it was Aidan’s turn. The Irishman smirked, eyes fixing on Richard’s as if he wanted to say ‘If you have any objections, make them known now’. Thankfully, none came and the curly-haired man took a deep breath before he met Richard’s lips in his own goodbye, tongue flicking quickly and playfully against the older man’s lips. Once he pulled back, he smiled: “It won’t be too long until we are taking that train ourselves. If that’s a good or a bad thing, you have to decide for yourself.”

Richard chuckled, “Good thing that I have the train ride to ponder it, then …”

The Irishman winked just as the signal that announced the departure of the train rang over the expanse of the platform. “We’ll skype, right?”

Richard nodded and stepped onto the train, “Most definitely. I’ll call once I know how things are with my agent and my parents, okay?”

Aidan nodded and felt Dean sneak an arm around his shoulder. Richard waved at them and stepped into the wagon, choosing the first seat next to the window, from behind which he smiled quietly to them. Once the train started moving, both, Aidan and Dean waved their goodbye and not half a minute later, the same was out of sight. Aidan sighed involuntarily and the arm around his shoulder tightened. The Irishman let his head drop onto Dean’s shoulder. “Is it weird that I already miss him? I mean, he’s been gone longer than this when he went for a shower …”

Dean snickered and placed a light kiss on his cheek, “If it’s weird, we’re weird together …”

Aidan turned his head and kissed the Kiwi lovingly, being glad that someone understood.

 

“So you finally decide to think about me again, once your beau has vanished …” Adam announced dramatically once he entered the cottage. Dean and Aidan had invited him and Luke for dinner, but Luke hadn’t been able to find a replacement for him in the inn. So, it was solely Adam.

Aidan walked out of the kitchen, “That’s rich, coming from you …” he shot back, embracing Adam once he had made his way over to their guest. “How are things with your _beau_ then?” the Irishman wanted to know once he had greeted their friend and ushered him into the kitchen, towards their seating area. Adam predictably blushed, “It’s still early stages but … he’s nice. He’s really nice. Hey Dean!” The Kiwi, mouth full of some of the salad he was about to season, only waved at Adam, grinning.

“Well good …” Aidan clapped Adam on the back once their friend was seated, “Very, very good. Wine?” The curly-haired man smirked. Adam raised an eyebrow, “So you bought that _despicable beverage_ only for me? I’m honored, I truly am …”

The Irishman nodded, “As you should be. And just so you know, you have to finish all three bottles so they don’t contaminate our fridge …”

“Three bottles?!!!” Adam exclaimed, “Who were you expecting? An entire banquet?”

Dean, who was bringing over the seasoned salad and put the bowl in the middle of their dining table, winked at Adam: “I’m sure Luke would be more than happy to pick you up …”

The interior designer rolled his eyes, “Yes, because that would be a splendid impression I would make …”

Aidan grinned as he got Adam his first glass of Chardonnay in their matching (!) wine glasses, “Aw Adam, give yourself more credit. You’re super cute when you’re drunk …”

“I did not hear this …” Adam said, but took a sip of wine nevertheless. An appreciating rise of eyebrow followed and Dean raised his thumb at Aidan, who had picked the bottles.

Once they had settled over their creative pasta dish, as Dean and Aidan had called it, Adam asked: “So, how are things with Richard?”

Dean grinned, “Giving back as good as we gave, I see … I think things are … good. Really good. Aidan?”

The curly-haired man only nodded as his mouth was full with pasta. Once he had taken a sip of wine (yes, they had agreed to have one glass each over the main course with Adam) himself, he added, “Yeah, I think it’s going well. I mean, as well as something so unconventional can.”

Adam shook his head, “Indeed. Please don’t get this the wrong way, but how on earth did you come up with something like that?”

It was then that Dean and Aidan re-told the story of Hugo, having a rather shocked Adam choke on his wine from time to time. Their tale was sometimes interrupted by exclamations such as “What on earth were you …” or “Why didn’t you tell me?!” or “Wait, and you were able to pull this off? Never mind, it would be way too stressful for me anyway …” The latter comment was mostly related to bedroom activities, as Aidan noted in an amused manner. Still, once they had talked Adam through both, the Hugo- as well as the Richard-case, the Londoner nodded. “As I said, I am not judging you for anything. I just wanted to know … and well, Richard does seem like a splendid guy, so: Congrats!” he smiled and the two men.

Aidan grabbed Dean’s hand under the table and grinned back, “That he is. And thanks. … So: Desert?” Dean and Adam chuckled, both nodding their approval.

 

Later that night, when Adam had already been escorted by both of them to Luke’s inn (not without them having a pint there, mind them) they cuddled up in bed and waited for Richard to call them via Skype. It was his third day in London, where he had gone to some theater performance with his parents but had promised to skype them once his Mum and Dad had gone to bed. After they had waited for about twenty minutes where Aidan was already dozing off and Dean working on some of his pictures, their laptop dinged. Instantly, Aidan was awake again which had Dean chuckle whilst answering Richard. “Hey …” Dean snorted whilst Aidan looked confused over at him.

Richard, coming slowly into focus in what appeared to be his bedroom in London – not that Aidan had ever been there before – smiled at them, hair slightly mussed and a white tee on: “Hello you two. Having fun without me already I see …”

Aidan raised his hands, “I have seriously no idea what this is about …”

Once Dean ceased his giggles, he looked at the actor on their screen, “You should have seen this Rich: Just half a minute ago, he was fast asleep. But as soon as he heard the Skype signal he bolted upright. I was amazing …” he continued to giggle, whilst Aidan rolled his eyes. “What else am I supposed to do when you are focusing solely on your pics?”

Now Richard started to laugh as well, which had Aidan focus onto the man currently sitting in London again, “How are you, Richard? Everything good?”

The addressed one nodded and told them about spending a wonderful day with his parents, who had arrived the day before. He himself had met with his agent yesterday and discussed which plays he would like to pursue … or she should try to pursue for him. If he was lucky, he would get a part or two. Additionally, he had met with his physician for another round of tests that admittedly were a bit early but he just liked to be sure. Aidan had to admit that he stood fully behind the actor’s decision. Better one test too many than overlooking something. Dean and he himself told the actor about their past few days, about taking another walk amongst the cliffs, about the dinner with Adam and their visit to Luke’s. When closing, Richard sighed, “As much as I enjoy staying in London, somehow I wish I was still there with you …”

Aidan grinned and Dean really looked beyond touched by that statement. “We miss you too …” the Kiwi admitted calmly. At that, Richard grinned that shy grin of his again, “Not being glad you’re rid of me then?” Aidan shook his head so enthusiastically that his curls bounced, “Nope, absolutely not.”

The actor smiled, “Very well. Lucky me.”

“Lucky us …” Aidan replied and Dean chuckled, “We’ll be back before you know it …”

Richard smiled, “I truly hope you are … Good night you two.”

“Good night!” both men replied almost at the same time before they ended the call – not without Aidan blowing a kiss towards the actor. Sue him, that man simply looked adorable, even over Skype.

 

 

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

 

As much as Dean’s _‘We’ll be back before you know it …’_ was meant as a platitude at the time, it certainly was true: One moment, the two men were having a walk on the beach after bidding Adam goodbye at the train station and the next they were hastily packing the stuff strewn around the cottage away. “Seriously Dean, how did we get as much stuff in here? It has multiplied, I’m telling you …” Aidan complained whilst they were putting plates and glasses into some boxes and filled their cupboards with sheets, cushions and the like.

Dean snorted, while wrestling with a blanket: “You know, I have been here for quite a bit longer than you have and I’m not willing to survive simply on the bare necessities …”

Aidan simply went over and placed a kiss onto the Kiwi’s neck whilst sneaking his arms around the other man’s waist. “I know …” Suddenly his eyes landed on a rather fancy looking water carafe that stood on the kitchen counter. “But you cannot tell me that you thought this to be a necessity for your survival, hon …” Aidan observed and pointed towards the item made of glass. The blonde’s eyebrow raised and the two of them shared a look. “Adam”, they stated matter-of-factly. “Seriously, how did he even do that…?” Dean asked whilst shaking his head. Aidan snapped a picture of the carafe before they put it away and sent it with a “Care to explain (thanks!)” via Whatsapp to the interior designer.

About three hours later they were (almost) ready to depart the next morning and thought – since their kitchen had been scrubbed clean and all the utensils had been safely put away – that they would spend the evening in Luke’s inn. They could use the time to thank the innkeeper for – well, a lot actually – and have dinner all in one go. It was definitely a win-win. So once they found each other with their bellies full of stew and their second beer in hand at the bar, Dean finally addressed the elephant in the room: “Luke, seriously … We don’t know how to thank you for … well, everything.” The man behind the bar grinned light-heartedly and shook his head. “There really isn’t that much to thank me for …”

“Excuse me!” Aidan interjected after he had a sip of beer, “… But we were cleaning up today and I had to stack away, well, plates and glasses and pots and pillows … which were all dry thanks to an intact roof, just to be clear about that, so I’d say we have a lot to thank you for, dearest Luke.”

The Welshman shrugged, “I enjoyed it. Seriously, I liked to help …”

“Still, we wouldn’t have known what to do without you, so: Once you come to London …” Dean started but Aidan interrupted him with a, “Which we guess that you will in the nearer future …” which earned him a grin from Dean and a blush from the innkeeper before the blonde continued, “… we don’t know how exactly we will make it up to you, but we will. So: We hope to see you there soon.” Dean smiled and Aidan nodded, “Yep, preferably before the one over there departs for Kiwi-Land.”

Dean groaned, “Don’t you remind me. Articles to re-write … ungh!”

Aidan patted his shoulder, “But you’re still on holiday, well, at least not in university-teaching-mode for a few more weeks in fact, so don’t worry about that …”

“Right you are there”, Luke nodded, “And once you return to London, you have an actor waiting who will surely take your mind off things …” The dark-haired man winked. “How is Richard anyway?”

Dean nodded, “Good so far. He is still waiting for his last test-results and a bit jittery due to that … but otherwise he’s good.” The Irishman nodded, “Yeah. Good thing his parents visited and took his mind off things for a bit. And he’s thinking about working again; his agent is looking for suitable theater-parts so I guess everything is going back to normal again …”

Luke nodded whilst pouring some other patron a beer, handing it over with a “Here you go, mate” before he turned back to them. “That’s great … I mean, I’ve known a few people who had to deal with severe depression after a diagnosis like that …”

Dean chuckled, “Seriously? I think that curly-haired idiot over there had a lot to do with that …”

Aidan turned, “Oi! For the idiot … and otherwise: I’m not sure that’s true …”

As Luke’s raised eyebrow matched Dean’s, the Irishman raised the two he had: “Okay, what is it?!”

Luke only chuckled, “Do you wanna answer or should I?” Dean only waved at the innkeeper, who continued, “You’ve been there and kept him company, looked after him, for Christ’s sake, when practically everybody else turned away.”

Aidan waved his hand around whilst swallowing the sip of beer he had just taken, “His family wasn’t even in London at the time …”

Dean crooked his head, “Sure, but you were there even though you didn’t have to be. I mean, you only worked at the hospital he was treated in … Nothing more.”

The Welshman nodded, “Absolutely. You practically were strangers. Plus: I think it helped that he had somebody to talk to when his boyfriend practically abandoned him after he got the second diagnosis …”

Aidan slapped his forehead, “Please, don’t remind me. That time when he thought I was after him …” He felt Dean clap him on the back, “But that turned out not too badly in the end, did it?” The Irishman only snorted at that. “No seriously, even though you didn’t have those feelings for him _then_ ”, Luke emphasized once more, “Only that someone _he_ had potential interest in, that he was attracted to, cared for him surely did wonders to a man whose partner had just broken up with him for the sole reason that he could not perform …”

Aidan sighed, “Please don’t remind me. I still want to slap that Lee-person in the face every time I think about that … And I do not care that he is basically twice as tall as I am. And above all: Careful you two: You almost make me sound to be a decent human being …”

Dean chuckled, “And we couldn’t have that, could we?”

“Terrible think to be called, that”, Luke joked and Aidan reached over the bar to slap his forearm.

After the two men had stayed a bit longer, Luke promised that he would pick them up at the cottage in the morning in order to take them to the train station – which he did, and most punctual at that. And the Welshman was even considerate enough to bring coffee, as the two men had already cleaned their own coffee maker the night before. What followed was yet again a surprisingly hard good-bye at the platform as neither Dean nor Aidan had expected to actually make friends while they were in holiday. Still, they made Luke promise to visit them as long as Dean was still in London before it was them, for a change, who had to wrestle their suitcases and backpacks onto the train. Waving like madmen through the window at Luke, who waited until their departure, neither of them did stop until they ran out of platform. “So, off to London …” Dean said, not sure if he was happy to be visiting Aidan’s flat and to see Richard again or sad to be leaving the cottage and Luke behind.

“Appears that way …” Aidan replied and had to admit that he felt exactly the same.

Getting lost in their respective thoughts for a while, Aidan suddenly started to chuckle. Dean, looking up from where he pointlessly stared out the window, not really seeing the scenery going by in a flash in front of him, only replied with a “Hmmm?” The curly-haired man grinned at the Kiwi sitting opposite of him. “It’s funny how everything turned out, isn’t it?”

The photographer frowned, “How do you mean?”

“Well …” Aidan threw up his hands, “Considering that when we were planning your visit, we only knew that we might be staying in Maggie’s cottage and nothing beyond that, quite a lot has changed since then.”

Dean smiled at the Irishman, “And if that isn’t true … The repairs, the fucking hole in the roof …” The blonde shuddered.

“The hedgehogs!” Aidan interjected.

Dean snickered, “Oh yeah. Them. And then Luke and … you getting to know Richard … who by then still had chemo …”

Aidan nodded, “God, I’m glad that’s over. Thinking back, it really seems like a year or so ago …”

Dean took Aidan’s hand that lay on the table in his and smiled at him, “But everything turned out fine in the end …”

As encouraging as Dean looked, Aidan bit his lip before he asked the question that he had already asked, but it still burned in the back of his mind: “Is this really okay for you Dean, truly?” At the blonde’s frown, the Irishman elaborated: “The thing with Richard. I mean, you probably knew all along that I had a crush on him and … I still fear that I pressured you into something that you do not truly want. And I’d hate that; I hate if it changed things between us …” After a small chuckle, he added, “Even though it would be a bit late for that now, wouldn’t it …?” Scolding himself for his own stupidity, Aidan did not witness the small grin spreading on Dean’s face.

“Aidan, look at me”, the photographer started. Aidan slowly lifted his eyes that had rested on their joined hands in the middle of the flimsy table in between them and saw nothing but love in Dean’s eyes: “You stupidly considerate man, listen to me: This thing will change our relationship – I mean, how could it not? But this does not mean that things will change for the worse. And even if – and that’s a big if, but I will return to that in a minute – “ Aidan grinned at that whilst Dean continued, “… things will get worse, there is no guarantee in a relationship, there never is. Not in one of two people and not in one of ten. We knew that when we decided to maintain a long-distance relationship, we knew that there was the possibility that either of us met someone who they fell in love with and there was nothing the other one could do about it. And we decided to take that risk and I am so happy, so indescribably happy that we did because those last years have been the best of my life.” Aidan saw Dean smile at the tears that were forming in his eyes. Damn his boyfriend, why did he know how to say beautiful things like that all the time?

And he was not done, as it turned out: “And then you met Richard, and yes, I knew that you might have developed a crush on him and I was a little jealous because even if I knew – and I did know – that you would not act upon it, it was him who you saw after work whilst I was wrestling with whatever the cottage decided fit for that day. But then I met him and I could understand why you did all those things for him because he is a wonderful and kind person and somehow, you always manage see that in people from the very start. And even though it might be a bit early to make confessions like that, I think I might be falling in love with him, truly in love with him, and I just hope that he will feel the same towards me one day. And that’s all one can ask for, right?”

As if on cue, a single tear ran down the younger man’s cheek. “Damn you and your wise words, O’Gorman.” Dean grinned and let the younger man’s hand go so that he could wipe the tear away with the back of his hand. After Aidan had done that, he shook his head, “Enough of that now. I am going to start thinking that we’re in a bad Hollywood Rom-Com.” At the sound of both of their phones vibrating, the two men started to laugh out loudly before they both unlocked their respective screens. Reading the Whatsapp-message, a huge smile broke out on Aidan’s face and once he looked up at Dean, he found the blonde smiling just as wide. “Speaking of Rom-Coms …” the Kiwi said and Aidan only nodded, looking back at the cell in his hand. They had gotten a message from Richard: _Still cancer-free_ it read with a smiley attached to it.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my dear readers, that was it.  
> I truly hope you enjoyed reading my first try at a threesome fanfic as much as I enjoyed writing it.   
> And to those of you who left Kudos or comments: You guys really made my day. Thank you so much for your kind words. <3


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